Murdochy Horror Picture Show
by Romantic Nerd
Summary: George falls asleep while writing his latest novel. This story is themed on the 1975 cult movie, the "Rocky Horror Picture Show," and is adapted from Richard O'Brien's script "The Rocky Horror Show." Readers unfamiliar with the movie may feel lost, as may those familiar with it. This is funky fun. Happy New Year! M version too.
1. Chapter 1

Murdochy Horror Picture Show_Chapter 1_A Light in the Darkness

Wedding bells rang in the sunny, breezy air. But panic had set in, for George was late, he had lost the ring!

Higgins sneered, happy because George deserved this after all his bragging about being the detective's "chosen one."

 _But Higgins looked so strange, his look giving George pause at first. He appeared as such Riff-Raff – his hair long and stringy, his teeth grayish-yellow, their smell rotten, nauseating really… And what suit is that?! It is too small, his skinny grayish-green wrists and ankles poking out from the ends of the sleeves and trousers._

"I did not take the ring, George," Constable Henry Higgins insisted.

Then George found the hole in his pocket.

A vacuumous roaring filled and swirled the air, and George spun and rose upward, watching himself and Higgins spin and shrink until they were out of view. He had entered the TIME WARP!

) (

Dr. Julia Ogden and her betrothed, Dr. Darcy Garland were on their way to Toronto from Buffalo in a carriage. They were going to meet Julia's family. She sat there rocking in the silence between them. Well, it wasn't really silence, for Darcy talked on, but she no longer heard him, only occasionally responding with a, "Mm-hmm," or a "Yes." No, Julia Ogden's mind had drifted away to the place where it always ended up – _**HIM**_.

The images ran, her heart only followed, agonous and then glorious, jolting and bolting from one memory to the other. William would tip his hat at her, and her heart would soar… her womb would twitch. Then he was standing before her, his gorgeous chocolate-brown eyes glistening and flooded with tears so deep only his marvelous long, thick, black eyelashes could dam them back so… and he shook his head 'no,' but he found no words to stop her… from going, and her throat would swell shut and tears would heat her eyes. Then she would fight them back and respond to Darcy once more, "Mm-hmm."

Darcy was so overjoyed with his fate, his luck, to have caught such a woman as her. His heart sang it out as he told her, "The river was deep but I swam it. The future is ours so let's plan it. So please don't tell me to can it. I've one thing to say and that's, _halleluiah, Julia_ , I love you."

Her crystal-blue eyes still focused far off, Julia wondered if she would see **HIM** back in Toronto. She had to admit she wanted to… and she did not want to. Total despair captured her heart with the memory of telling **HIM** she was engaged to another as they stood on the hospital steps in Buffalo, and he seemed to want to renew their relationship – despite his knowing she couldn't give him a child. And she could feel it, she had hurt **HIM** so deeply. And again, the tears welled up in her eyes… And she fought them back. "Yes," she said.

Unaware that she was not his, Darcy sang on, "The road was long but I ran it. There's a fire in my heart and you fan it. If there's a fool for you then I am it. I've one thing to say and that's, _halleluiah, Julia_ , I love you."

A smile curled on her lips as she remembered it – William below her as her yellow and orange hot air balloon swayed above him. And he told her that, without her, nothing was right. And she knew he loved her as she had felt to be true. Theirs was a love intensely profound, rare. And then her heart plummeted as she remembered she had denied it… only as one can deny their own soul in doing so. _Those confounding tears again!_ " _Damnit_ ," she thought as she fought them off once more. "Mm-hmm," she replied.

Darcy, sure he knew the way of their love, sang on, "There's three ways that love can grow, that's good – bad or mediocre…"

 _George heard his own voice say – from somewhere all-seeing, "But it_ _ **was**_ _mediocre," before he took a deep breath and continued the tale…_

I would like - if I may - to take you on a strange journey. It seemed a fairly ordinary night when _Dr. Darcy Garland,_ and his fiancée _Dr. Julia Ogden_ ... (two ordinary healthy _toff-doctors_ ) ... left _Buffalo_ that late November evening to visit a _Professor Brackenreid_ , _ex-mentor_ and now friend to both of them ... It's true there were dark storm clouds, heavy - black and pendulous - toward which their _carriage_ was driving, it's true also that the _wheel_ they were riding on was badly in need of _repair_ \- but they being normal _doctors and not mechanically inclined_ \- well - they were not going to let a storm spoil the events of their evening. On a night out. _(Thunder)_ It was a night out they were to remember _(Thunder)_ for a very - long - time.

) (

 _From his vantage point up in the thundery sky, George could see them below. Their carriage was askew in the pouring rain, its wheel lying in the puddled mud. From the tiny, dry space inside, Darcy and Julia peered out the little window at the disaster._

"Didn't we pass a castle back down the road a few miles? Maybe they have a telephone I might use," Darcy said.

Julia demanded, "I'm coming with you."

Darcy made an attempt at being chivalrous, "There's no point in both of us getting wet," he tried.

Julia placed her hands on her hips, already out in the rain, her playful curls sagging around the jutted-up chin that William so deeply loved. "I'm coming with you. Besides, darling, the owner of the phone may be a beautiful woman, and you may never come back," she commanded with an alluring flare.

Darcy responded sarcastically, "Ha Ha Ha."

Moments later, Julia spooked by the sight of the forbidding castle in the stormy blackness, sang to soothe herself, "In the velvet darkness of the blackest night, burning bright – there's a guiding star, no matter what or who you are."

Also seeking to calm his nerves, Darcy joined in with her song, both of their voices hoping, "There's a light."

Strange phantom voices sang in the wind, "Over at the Crabtree-lined Place."

Darcy and Julia answer them, "There's a light."

And the phantom voices respond, "Burning in the fire place."

Julia sang out, "There's a light … light in the darkness of everybody's life."

The phantom voices fluttered by them once more, "Over at the Crabtree-lined Place."

Julia and Darcy, having passed through the long, crabtree-lined driveway, hugged each other close and stepped up to the big green Station House #4 door, concluding in song, "There's a light."

) (

Inside the castle, hiding in the shadows, Higgins snarled and grinned with glee. He was nothing but Riff-Raff, merely rabble, but these two toffs... _Oh, this will be fun!_ His heart was overjoyed with newfound power, he burst into song, "The darkness must go down the river of Morphia, slow let the sun and the light come streaming into my life."

) (

Outside on the step, Julia and Darcy worked to find the courage to knock on the Station House # 4 door… 

Julia declared, "Oh _Darcy_ , let's go back. I'm cold and I'm frightened."

Sounding manly, Darcy insisted, "Just a moment, _Julia_ , they may have a telephone." He reached up and rang the bell.

 _The big door creaks as it opens…_

Creepy, with greenish-gray skin, and stringy long hair, Higgins greeted them, his sleazy smile revealing his decaying teeth, "Hello," he uttered, with a bit of a cat-ate-the-canary tone to it.

Darcy was obviously startled, and Julia looked on and disappointed, _for the man was surely no William Murdoch_.

He stuttered out his words, "Oh, Uh, Ahh, Hi there, we're in a bit of a spot, I wonder could you help us - our _carriage_ is broken down about two miles back - do you have a telephone we might use?"

Higgins trolled his eyes along Julia's soaking wet, deliciously sexy body. "You're wet," he licked his lips with the statement.

Pulling her top up, trying to cover her marshmallowy soft cleavage, she replied, "Yes - the rain has been very heavy."

Darcy added, "Yes."

Higgins agreed, his greedy eyes still on the beauty, "Yes." Lightning and thunder flickered and boomed with a roar. "I think you better both come inside," he said, gesturing them through the door.

Realizing their helplessness, Julia bowed slightly, "You're too kind," she placated. Behind her, she heard…

Higgins mimicked her words, "You're too kind. You're too kind…"

 _George floundered as he heard his own authoritative voice pierce the darkness once more…_ **"** And so - after braving the inclement weather, and some not too little time - it seemed that fortune had smiled on _Darcy and Julia_ and that they had found the assistance that their plight required - or had they? - There was certainly something about this house (to which, a _broken wheel_ and a wet night had brought them) that made the both of them uneasy - but, if they were to reach their destination that night, they would have to ignore such feelings and take advantage of whatever help was offered."

 _ **What plight awaited them in the Crabtree-lined Place? Stay tuned, and watch the real movie if you get a chance!**_


	2. Chapter 2:Time Warp

Murdochy Horror Picture Show_Chapter 2_Time Warp

The Riff-Raff butler, Higgins, sneered, "Wait here."

Julia shivered and perused their surroundings. "Oh _Darcy_ , what sort of a place is this - I'm frightened."

Darcy puffed up his chest and feigned courage. "It's probably some sort of hunting lodge for our _fellow toffs_ …" he too peered about taking in the eerie walls and ceilings, "weirdos - but you're shivering…"

Julia found herself growing annoyed, "Yes I'm wet," she snapped.

A warm breeze crossed his leg. "Look feel this - there's hot air coming from this grill in the wall - take off your sweater and dry it here. I'll keep a look out for the undertaker," he said. Darcy's eyes dwelled on Julia's soaking wet sweater. He fought the urge to drool, felt the surge in his trousers with anticipation. " _Would she actually take it off!?_ "

Julia slipped the sweater off, only her corset and underwear to protect her from the cold… and all those eyes in the walls. Gorgeous! Gorgeous, her creamy tissues heaved up and down…

Julia bent over, from behind her derriere enticed, now only secluded by a short pair of bloomers and dangling garters attached to white, fishnet stockings below, and she spread the sweater wide to place it over the grill in the wall. A gasp, a scream, _as her sweater was snatched from her hand by a riff-raff hand through the grill._ "Oh!"

Her scream made Darcy jump, and embarrassment pumped through him. Instantly he lost his erection. Angry, he scolded, "For God's sake keep a grip on yourself _Julia_. I'm here - there's nothing to worry about." He offered her his arms and she acquiesced.

" _He's no William… My God I miss William_ ," she thought. Her nose so close to Darcy's relatively wimpy chest… _she missed HIS smell, HIS feel, so firm, so warm… the way his strong arms would wrap around her. She never felt so safe, so at home…_

Suddenly, ghostly, they appeared, Riff-Raff Higgins and Miss Bloom, her long, flowing hair dyed a deep, deep MAGENTA. She was dressed, as too was Julia it seemed, in merely her corset and garters and fishnet stockings and high heels.

Julia at first startled, but she managed to play it cool. "Excuse me, hi, look if I could just use your phone, we'll move right along - I'm sure you've got a lot of things to do and a great evening planned," she said nonchalantly, feeling so exposed, so… undressed.

Higgins' disturbing teeth drew Julia's eyes, while the low-class rabble blatantly continued to devour her exposed curves, he replied, his voice carrying a hiss reminiscent of a snake, "Oh ye _sss_ , you've arrived on a rather special night, the ma _sss_ ter is having one of his affair _sss_. "

 _He led them, herded them, into the author's writing-room. It was a place much like a laboratory, but each station had typewriter, pen, paper. Creations were made here – characters, stories…_

Immediately, Julia and Darcy found themselves in the center of the floor. Around them the hosts glared, their eyes darting back and forth between their… captives, and across the room at a closed white door, with steam drifting into the room through its edges. There was another one among them now, besides that riff-raff Higgins and magenta-haired Miss Bloom.

This new third member seemed so familiar to Julia. She was certain it was Dr. Emily Grace, but her hair was cut short – seemingly styled after the woman they had both so admired who had discovered the Mole People. " _What was her name? …Elva Gordon! That was it!"_ Julia had gotten lost in her thoughts. " _But it couldn't be Emily… Emily had gotten a phenomenal job, teaching at COLUMBIA University. She wouldn't be here… Where is here, actually?"_ Julia thought to herself, the question itself raising alarm and sending the hairs on the back of her neck into alert.

Julia's gasp could barely be heard as everyone in the room unanimously burst into song – joined by those strange voices that seemed to float in the wind. The song they were singing had a dance to it and it was meant to lure the master out through the door – to introduce him as it were…

Riff-Raff Higgins started it off, "It's astounding – time is fleeting. Madness takes its toll. But listen closely…"

Magenta-haired Miss Bloom and Columbia-professor Dr. Grace added in whispers, close to their victim's ears, "Not for very much longer."

Riff-Raff Higgins went on, "I've got to keep control." Then he began to scream out the words, his excitement palpable and contagious, the room lit up with anticipation as he yelled, "I remember… doing the Time Warp. Drinking those moments when the blackness would hit me – and the void would be calling."

And then the whole room, magnified and amplified by the addition of the phantom voices being pumped from the walls to join in, burst into song, "Let's do the Time Warp again. Let's do the Time Warp again!"

George's voice floating on the ceiling filled the room as he instructed, "It's just a jump to the left."

And then the room replied, loudly together, "And then a step to the right!"

George's voice answered them, "Put your hands on your hips."

The room screamed back, "And pull your knees in tight!" And then they all wiggled and writhed about, _making some rather obscene gestures_ , Julia and Darcy each thought, as they sang the chorus, "But it's the pelvic thrust that really drives you insane. Let's do the Time Warp again. Let's do the Time Warp again."

Magenta-haired Nina Bloom became drowned in spotlight as she said, her actions seductive, her corset and stockings-clad body rubbing up against Darcy, "It's so dreamy – oh fantasy free me, so you can't see me – no not at all. In another dimension – with voyeuristic intention, well-secluded – I'll see all. With a bit of a mind flip. – you're there in a time slip. Nothing can ever be the same. You're spaced out on sensation…"

Riff-Raff Higgins barreled in, his creepy hand sliding along Dr. Ogden's waist, "Like you're under sedation!"

And the room resumed their pulsating dance and sang, "Let's do the Time Warp again. Let's do the Time Warp again!"

By the time the song and dance seemed to end, Darcy and Julia had joined in. They were becoming seduced by the call of the flesh. Unbeknownst to them, that was the plan.

Julia felt the spinning in the room slow, and her feet – amazing her discovery that her feet were in heels – on the ground. She knew it with her pounding heart! They weren't safe here! " _Darcy,_ let's get out of here, it seems so unhealthy here – _for a toff_. I want to go," she heard herself plead with him.

Ever the reasonable man, Darcy stated plainly, "Well we can't go anywhere until I get a phone."

"This isn't the meeting of the Hospital Board, _Darcy_!" she challenged. " They're probably foreigners…" she started to explain, panicking, looking around the strange writing lab-room defensively, "with ways different from our own. They may do _more a sort of_ … folk dancing…" Her mood changed with a reminder of, " _ **the master,**_ " her eyes now glued to the still-closed, ominous white door across the room, it still steaming at the seams. She insisted, "Look, I'm cold, I'm wet and I'm plain scared."

Darcy enjoyed seeing her reduced to shivering, so helpless and dependent. It made him feel like a big man. "I'm here _Julia_ , there's nothing to worry about," he insisted.

Julia saw it so clearly in that moment, the same smug arrogance that had so bothered her in Darcy, back when they were standing with William at the bottom of the Jenkins' staircase, William working on a case and asking for her help making a mold of the wound. If she helped HIM, she would miss dinner with Darcy and her family, and Darcy had insisted that he would, "charm them so that they wouldn't even notice she was not there." Her skin had crawled that William had seen Darcy say such a thing. She knew it then, already knew it, but then felt it in her bones – not only as regret for _not_ being with William, but also with regret for _being with_ Darcy… She had made a tremendous mistake!

With a bang the sinister white door slammed open. The master had appeared! George Crabtree stood before them all. He too, had the apparently traditional dress of their custom – a get-up much like those that Miss Bloom would wear at her place of business at the nightclub. But George Crabtree looked quite good clothed in a corset and fishnet stockings and heels. The room shuttered, Julia wondered if it was with " _fear or awe… probably both,_ " she decided. His voice provocative, pulled her to him. It seemed to lure in Darcy too.

The master spoke, "How do you do? I see you've met my faithful handyman," he scorned, lifting a strand of Higgins' stringy hair and dropping the greasy knot back down onto the Riff-Raff rabble's shoulder. He strutted so as he explained, "Don't get strung out by the way I look. Don't judge a book by its cover. I'm not much of a man by the light of day, but by night I'm one hell of a lover."

Julia's eyes bugged out of her head, and she couldn't help herself, for she felt a sexual charge, the sensations prompting her to blush, for it was then that the master thrust his hips and there was a magnetism and a charm as he sang his chorus, "I'm just a sweet _book-writer from libido-magic mania_."

The master paraded from soul to soul, rendering each one not much more than sexualized goo as he continued his entrancing song and dance. "Let me show you around, maybe play you a sound. You look like you're both pretty groovy. Or if you want, something visual that's not too abysmal. We could take in an old Steve Reeves Movie…"

" _What's that?"_ Julia wondered. " _Maybe more of this Time Warp thing,_ " she guessed.

It was then that Darcy tried to take control. Nonchalantly he cleared his throat, "I'm glad we caught you at home. Ah, could we borrow your phone. We're both in a bit of a hurry. We'll just tell out location. Then go back to the station. We don't want to be any worry."

The master retorted, "You got caught with a flat. Well how about that!" he said raising his eyebrow at them.

Julia couldn't help but see the gesture as being like one William often used. _My God she wished he were here_!

A gasp escaped her, for now the master was pushing himself against her, sultry in motion. He offered reassurance, "Well babies, don't panic. By the light of the night it'll all seem alright. I'll get you a satanic mechanic."

His intoxicating prancing resumed and he sang, "I'm just a sweet _book-writer from libido-magic mania_."

Suddenly, his raspy voice in Julia's ear from behind, "Why don't you stay for the night? Or maybe a bite." Her skin tingled as his hard, white teeth teased the lobe of her ear.

And his servants pumped in, repeating, "Bite… bite… bite."

He leaned in close, making a small huddle with Julia and Darcy, and he confided, "I could show you my favorite obsession. I've been _writing and_ making a _hero, smart, handsome, brave to the marrow_. And he's good for relieving my…" he paused and he moaned, or more grunted,  "…tension."

Suddenly, he pushed back and began his strutting again, reminding, "I'm just a sweet _book-writer from libido-magic mania._ "

The master, high heels and all, just strutted off the stage, and then so quickly his servants, Riff-Raff Higgins and Magenta-haired Miss Bloom, and Columbia-professor Emily Grace, all swooped in and stripped Darcy down to his underwear too. Then did him up in their typical ensemble, their unique sexy doo.

Julia held back a giggle as Darcy tried to look macho. "It's alright _Julia_ , everything's gonna be all right. We'll just play along for now – and we'll pull out the aces when the time is right."

She held the corners of her mouth down straight and said, "This is no time for card tricks, _Darcy_!" she found she had become angry.

The servants brought them into them into a smaller laboratory. Told them the master would want them in lab-coats, and handed two white coats over. They put them on, both relieved to be less… exposed. In the center of the room there was a box big white box.

" _Big enough for a man,_ " Julia thought. She felt such an odd chill, maybe more of a thrill. Inside was the master's creation, she just knew it. " _Smart, handsome and brave to the marrow_ ," she reminded herself. Her subconscious beyond her control, she pictured William in the box…


	3. Chapter 3: Murdochy

Murdochy Horror Picture Show_Chapter 3_Murdochy

Julia noticed, somewhere off in the distance of the tiny lab-room, over on the opposite side of the big, white box, that there were bleacher seats, full of… _Were they people?_ " she squinted with an effort to see.

Startled once again by Master George's voice as he swaggered in, she jumped.

"We don't often receive visitors here, let alone show them hospitality," the master declared.

Indignant and loudly, Darcy interrupted, "Hospitality! All we wanted was to use your phone, a reasonable request which you have chosen to ignore."

Worried, for they were truly at this man's mercy, Julia said, trying to quiet him, "Don't be ungrateful, _Darcy_."

 _Oh, how infuriating this woman could be at times_! Steam coming out of his ears Darcy raged at her,  "Ungrateful!?"

It was intriguing to Master George, such false bravado in an effort to impress Dr. Ogden. He mocked, sarcastically calling the toff-doctor out on his blatant weakness, especially in comparison to what Master George was fully aware that Dr. Ogden had had previously in Detective Murdoch, "How forceful you are, _Darcy_. What a perfect example of manhood - so dominant…" The master's eyes dwelled on, stared down at, somehow minimizing what he took into view, Darcy's groin.

He then turned to Dr. Ogden and asked, "You must be very proud, _Julia_."

"Yes," Julia lied, hoping to get the pressure off.

Back to Darcy, Master George remembering his mentor, Detective Murdoch, particularly at the time seeing an image of the man defending Miss Pensall from an incoming archery arrow, taking the potentially fatal blow in the chest. Then flash after flash of the detective's courageous encounters flooded before his eyes, shot in the deltoid muscle saving the queen, facing off with Sally Pendrick's deadly Microwave ray – managing that time to find a way to spare the little chestnut horse, Sonny's, life in the process. The final imagining was of George himself shooting a bullet into James Gillies arm, having found Detective Murdoch in the villain's trap after the detective had brilliantly alerted the Constabulary of its existence. Murdoch lie unconscious from the deadly gas on the floor in the trap. George still marveled at the detective's choice to give his life for Dr. Ogden's…. " _Argh!_ " he thought to himself, " _again, off on a tangent! Focus George!"_ he lectured himself. He turned back to the doctor's preferred choice and asked, "Tell me _Darcy_ , do **you** have any _bullet wounds_?"

Insulted, for such an accusation implied that he mixed with criminals and lowlifes. And further, Dr. Darcy Garland was not wise enough, nor worldly enough, and so he completely missed his fiancé's immediate comparison between himself and her former lover, whose lovely body was peppered with injuries suffered when fighting for the safety of those weaker than himself. And so, Darcy nearly hollered his utter rejection of the notion claiming defiantly, "Certainly not!"

A smirk on Master George's face, he quickly turned to the lady doctor, "How about you?" he asked slyly.

Unsure whether to be offended or flattered, Julia squirmed and blushed. Relief saved her from answering, for that Riff-Raff butler Higgins stammered, from over near the big white box…

"Everything is in readiness Master, we merely wait for you to give the word," the sleaze-ball said.

Master George threw his hands triumphantly up into the air. He glanced over at the crowd on the bleachers, then turned back to the toff-doctor couple. Speaking loudly for everyone to overhear, Master George declared, "Tonight Darcy and Julia, you are to witness a new breakthrough in Biochemical research and paradise is to be mine..."

"Oh, how wonderful for you," Julia said. "You know, Darcy and I are medical doctors, quite prominent in our…"

Abruptly, the master, still dressed in his corset and fishnet stockings and high heels, turned with a wobble to address his larger audience. He pranced to the large white box in the center of the room, slid his fingers admiringly along its smooth edge and said, "Yes. It was strange the way it happened ... one of those quirks of fate really ... one of those moments when ... everything looks black, the chips are down, your back is against the wall. You panic - you're trapped - there's no way out and even if there was it would probably be a one way ticket to the bottom of the bay. And then suddenly you get a break - all the pieces seem to fit into place - what a sucker you'd been - what a fool - the answer was there all the time – use the cells from the man closest to the dream, stealing a hair isn't a crime. Then add the secret - elusive ingredient – that spark that is the breath of life, mix it all in with the testicles from a prize stallion, for it is the magic of libido that creates life. You can MAKE a hero, one to save the day. He will solve all the problems. He'll lead the way.

Master George turned back to face the toff couple. "Yes I have that knowledge, I hold the key to life itself, you see Darcy and Julia you are fortunate, for tonight is the night my beautiful creature is destined to be born."

Dramatic music hummed through the walls. Commandingly Master George yelled out his orders, "Throw open the switches on the Sonic Oscillator and step up the Reactor Power Input ... three more points."

Riff-Raff Higgins flipped switches at the large computer board. Instantly the room began to vibrate with the low-pitched ominous sounds, all seeming to emanate from the white box.

Holding her calm, Julia whispered to Darcy next to her, " _Darcy?_ "

"It's alright _Julia_ ," Darcy placated.

Over on the wall there hung a picture of a magnificent dark-haired, dark-eyed, stallion. Master George stroked it, thanked the impressive horse for his contribution to his creature. Hand still touching the rump of the beast in the picture, he called out dramatically, as if it pained him with the connection, "Balls!" 

Julia's mind rushed quickly, " _The master is making a hero… he said. He used the cells from a hair from a man, a man who is closest to the ideal…_ " She couldn't help but picture William. Julia fought to pull her thoughts back to the matter at hand. " _And he added an ingredient to spark the creature's libido… from a stallion… Balls!"_ she continued to try to organize the information, the events in her mind.

But then it hit her, like a strike of lightning, ozone filled the air. It was as if a repressed memory had been triggered and had then suddenly become conscious. As simply as that… Julia recognized the master – it was Constable George Crabtree! He was writing a book! He was always writing a book! And George admired William! " _Oh my God_ ," the thought nearly floored her, _William would be his protagonist, George's hero… the creature!_ She couldn't believe it – _William Murdoch would be here – he would come out of the box, and he would stand before her. And she would have another chance…_

Julia's gasp filled the air with her recognition, her hope.

Darcy missed the emotion behind her gasp and placated her once more, "It's alright, _Julia_."

Master George, satisfied that Magenta-haired Nina Bloom had sufficiently spun the balls attached to the box to create the rise in the electromagnetic friction needed, signaled for her to continue but, like a conductor creating a symphony, he lifted his hand at Columbia-professor Emily Grace. "Tubes!" he hollered dramatically across the room.

Columbia-professor Emily Grace firmly wrapped her hands around one in the series of glass tubes and slid her softly closed fists up and down around it – seemingly causing it to turn red. Then she did the same thing to the next tube…

Anticipation filled the air. To Julia it felt as if there was not any oxygen to breathe. Her eyes glued to the seam at the lid of the box. She hoped, she prayed, with all her might.

Patronizingly, Darcy leaned over and put his arm around her. "It's alright Julia," he insisted again.

Julia wondered at herself, her hope so powerful she barely noticed her annoyance at Darcy's belittling.

"Crimps!" Master George's voice pierced the air, his volume so high it managed to cover the thunderous low-pitched humming from the box that managed to shake and quake the whole room.

That's when Julia noticed he was there, another assistant to the master – James Pendrick. He wore a lab-coat, and he stood off to the side. In his hands, demanding great force, he pinched together some clamps, hooked them to exposed copper wires – these wires led to the white box. Sparks flickered and zapped! _Was that Terrence Meyers next to him_ , momentarily she thought she saw the spy's face in the flickering light. _But no – no one is there at all. Not Pendrick, not Meyers, no one at all._

Immediate silence drew her attention – everyone's attention – to the big, white box. The room held its breath, the lid budged, bumped. Master George rushed to the box, but before he could open the lid – WHAM! It roared open. Reminiscent of Dracula in his coffin, the creature, wrapped completely in bandages like a mummy, sat upright. All the room spooked backwards and their universal gasp stole the wind.

A pathway in Julia's neural circuits shot to light. _She felt it as a memory – or was it déjà vu? William so bravely had faced off the vampire. Then generously, he offered the fiend his own blood to save the hemophiliac young man. She so admired him then, he was truly remarkable, and she loved him all the more in that moment, and then it faded away… had not yet happened, perhaps never would. So confused, she felt so confused…_

And the creature stood, blinded by his bandages, he took his first breath through the white, flannel cloth. Incredibly agile for a newborn, he crawled over the edge of the box and stood, tall and brave on the floor.

Master George whispered something in the creature's ear, something private and warm. The creature nodded.

" _He already understands language!"_ Julia amazed silently to herself.

Lifting the creature's bandaged arm above his head, as if he were a champion, a prize-fighter winning a victory, Master George announced proudly, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you… **Murdochy!** " With that, the master clasped an end of a bandage with his fingers and then gave the creature a hearty shove, sending him into a motion, into a spin. As the creature twirled and twirled and twirled before them all, and the bandages became more and more removed.

Anxiously, all watched, as first his skin, rippled graciously with hunky muscles, came into the light. Twirl and twirl and twirl, and soon all could see his exquisite body, clothed only in a sort-of loin cloth, his head still unrevealed, masked and hidden away by the remaining bandages…

Julia waited. _The body, much like what she had imagined William's to be, for now only based on imaginings having never seen his naked body in reality… Then she questioned her facts, there was an inkling… She had seen William naked, many times, hadn't she? …this body was much more muscly_ … she thought.

As the master reached up to touch the bandages concealing the man's face, he said, "Remember folks, Murdochy has never seen… well, anything at all, before… Not light, only darkness. For the first time, my beautiful heroic creation will see the light of day, see other beings like himself. It is a bit unsure, I admit. But the ingredients were only the best, and so too shall be the creation. Murdochy, I give you the world!" he decreed dramatically, and then he grasped the final bandage, and spun his hand around and around over the beautiful creature's head, the circles crowing wider and higher as the freed bandage grew longer and more and more of Murdochy's face was revealed.

" _Black hair_!" Julia saw it!

" _Square, masculine, handsome jaw too!_ " her hopes climbed.

 _Oh, but my God did Julia's spirit_ _ **soar**_ _when the creature's eyes, William's beautiful – big – brown – long-black-eyelash-framed eyes, appeared! My God, it was William… William!_ Her knees felt so weak, she fought to remain standing. _How could it be that her soul could feel elated, and frightened, and so very_ _ **sore**_ _with agony all in the same instant?_

It was Murdochy who broke the silence, his voice raspy and dry at first, growing stronger and louder as he spoke, or sang really, for he told his story in a song, the song of the Sword of Damocles.

Julia knew the Ancient Greek tale. The servant, having been allowed to change places with his king, sits on the throne only to experience the tenuous danger of having a sword hanging over his head, held in place only by one, thin thread of a horse's tail. In this manner, the subject comes to know that with great power comes great danger, and therefore there is a constant sensation of dread. And Julia knew down in her bones that her William, the master's Murdochy, sang instead of matters of power, of trying to survive with a broken heart, and she knew that it was _her_ decision to leave him, to marry another, that had broken his heart, thus it was her who had rendered him weak, vulnerable to capture by the master in the first place.

Her brain strained to fathom it, William in two different worlds at the same time. Here, newborn, being used somehow against his will, by forces she did not know to be either bad or good, and William there, suffering, lost and alone in what had to feel like only darkness… Her task unfinished, her attention was pulled back into the tiny lab-room to hear _this_ William's story, here and now.

With every eye in the room fixed on Murdochy, he began, "The Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head. And I've a feeling _SHE'll_ be cutting the thread. A new job, and with that she'll go. She no longer loves me, that's all I know. Oh, woe is me – my life's a misery. Oh, can't you see I'm at the start of a pretty big downer. And yet it is I wonder – how could I have lost her before I had ever even found her."

The room answered his song, and he started to explore his surroundings. The crowd, and somehow even Darcy next to her, chanted it out, over and over, "Sha la la la,that ain't no crime. Sha la la la, that ain't no crime."

As his fingers touched the walls, and then he lifted his face to the ceiling.

The voices sang on, until…

Suddenly his eyes met Julia's from across the room. Everything halted – everything. There was not a breath, not a sound…

His head tilted sideways as he tried to understand, such a surge of electricity inside of him, uncontrollable, the need to be close to her. The creature approached rapidly, fiercely, causing the room to gasp.

Julia felt so very conflicted, frightened and yet so hungry. She wanted this man, down to her bones, every cell reached out for him. _So odd_ , the silence so extreme, white and pure like snow, and she noticed everyone had disappeared. They were alone the two of them. No one could stop him, no one could save her.

As if through a loudspeaker, Master George's explanations flooded the room. "Remember ladies and gentlemen, my creation, Murdochy, has never seen a woman before – never seen anything before, actually. Notice how quickly he learns, already knows English, just from listening to us – and while his magnificent brain was developing in the box. You see, it is part of my discovery, part of my authoring plan," he announced to the crowd.

Julia would never notice, so entranced by William at the time, but the crowd now included at its front, Pendrick, Meyers, and Clegg. They had positions of authority here, Pendrick the lead scientist in the venture, Meyers and Clegg serving as government agents. Their faces showed their concern. _Perhaps Master George could not control the creature? Perhaps he had made a mistake… too much focus on libido?_

William now stood directly in front of her. She noticed he was out of breath… and that she was too. His eyes held hers intently. He seemed to be soaking her in, she felt such a pull, beyond the scope of gravity. Her heart pounded violently against the walls of her chest and Julia's exposed, creamy bosom heaved rapidly, so beautifully, up and down, up and down.

The master's voice in the intercom declared, "The way I made Murdochy was from the cell of a world-renowned detective, a man with a brain like no other, one who invented things – and who had many hero-like qualities as well, like courage and perseverance… and I spiced it up with the magic ingredient – with stallion testicles! You all must know in your hearts, in your groins and in your wombs, that the trick to power in life is libido! It gives one strength and enthusiasm and daring…" George's voice raised high with excitement as he rationalized, "It is through Murdochy's libido that I will be able to control him, for he will want _that one thing_ in life so much that he will do anything I ask…" Master George glanced over ay Meyers and Clegg and corrected, "Anything _**we**_ ask, in order to get it."

 _Such a blur, the whirlwind around them, and Julia was finding her longing for William was insanely desperate, so extreme that it brought tears to her eyes. The Master's creature standing right here in front of her, he was William, but not quite William. Much more muscular, and… something wild, primal about him. This… untamed man… was so… unsophisticated, was missing William's buttoned-down ways…_

William reached up and took one of her dangling curls between his fingers. Julia melted and wrung inside, this gesture, this tender touch, so familiar, so intimate, so arousing. She felt him exhale… my God, she felt it – she knew it – the awareness plummeting her… he was aroused. A thought tantalized her every cell, he would take her, here, and now.

Roughly, suddenly his hands took hold of her head, and he brought his face down into her hair… and he smelled her, drank her in deeply, sniffing forcefully and robustly again, and again, he sucked her smell in… and she felt the floor rising up as she began to fall deeply, abysmally, with want for him, her womb squeezed and it torqued.

He breathed her scent in repeatedly, moving his face over her hair, then down into her neck. So firmly he held her in place as he had his way with her. His sniffing animal-like, dangerously out of control.

Then his hands shifted, grabbed hold of her shoulders demandingly, and he lowered his face down into her cleavage, and he sniffed, and smelled, and he let out the smallest, deepest, grumbliest of moans. He was feral. And he was so big and so strong… and she was in his clutches, defenseless.

Such helplessness, such terror surged through her, forcing a gasp with the shock, with the force, of it. Suddenly, she remembered their public display, and she grew embarrassed and she called out, "Oh," revealing her attempt at being surprised… and upstanding…

Undeterred, animalistic in his hunger, her predicament tumbled Julia again and she yielded to him, feeling her body offer the man complete surrender. Her womb twisted and wrenched, and then threatened implosion when she felt his mouth on her creamy flesh. " _William_ ," she collapsed in her mind, his tongue warm, so soft. " _William,_ " as he began to suck on her, slightly scraping her skin with his teeth. Then "William," she whispered out loud, as he released his grip on her shoulders, and brought his hands to opposite sides of her bosom, molding and squeezing her pliable flesh, squashing his face within the creamy, pillowy softness…

Standing next to her, Darcy tried to rally his courage to save his betrothed from the wild, untamed animal, but the man seemed rather formidable, and his fiancé seemed quite charmed…

William's mannerism changed with her calling to him, her sultry voice, that name she had whispered, bringing him pause, and he shifted his hands to hold her waist. William's voice in her ear, _William's voice!_ And his smell surrounding her, shattering her to the core, he asked her, now so softly, "Do I know you?"

"Yes…" her exhale begged for him to remember…

…Right before they were jerked apart. Riff-Raff Higgins and Terrence Meyers and James Pendrick had all grabbed a hold of the beast, pulled him off of the lady, as the crowd watched on, mesmerized and appalled. Julia felt her body falling forward, chasing after him. She saw him struggle in an effort to return her.

Master George stepped between them, placed his hands up onto Murdochy's chest and pushed against the creature's efforts. He lined up his eyes with the creature's brown, wild, hungry eyes. "You have adventures to go on, and problems to solve, my beautiful Murdochy. You must keep control over such… urges," he instructed as the master's eyes dropped down to Murdochy's groin, and the crowd joined his glance on its trip, and a collective gasp filled the room with the sight of the astounding bulge in the creature's loincloth.

The master led Murdochy over closer to the bleachers on the other side of the room. Re-established the creature's rhythm of his song by waving his hand, and bobbing his head. Master George started it off once more, "The Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head," he sang the first line to prime the beast.

Murdochy caught the tune.

Julia recognizing the sideways swaying William rocked with. It was similar to the swaying he had moved to when he stood below her yellow and orange hot air balloon, and they had reunited. Finding herself entranced and charmed, she joined in with it.

Murdochy continued, "And I've got the feeling someone is gonna be cutting the thread. Cause nothing is wrong, but nothing is right either. Maybe nothing left for me but to grieve her. And woe is me – my life is a misery. Oh, can't you see I'm at the start of a pretty big downer. Cause the wind, it took me here, and I'm all alone, and I haven't found her.

Relief filled the room as the creature was back under control, and the people sang along, "Sha la la la, that ain't no crime. Sha la la la, that ain't no crime."

The calm, confident, warm voice of unseen George the Author hovered in the room and said, "Murdochy Horror, you need peace of mind – and I want to tell you that you're doing just fine. You're the product of another time and feeling down, well that's no crime."

The crowd took up the mic once more, finishing it off, ""Sha la la la, that ain't no crime. Sha la la la, that ain't no crime."

Silence floated again, and all eyes turned to Master George. The master grabbed hold of Murdochy's wrist and fumed with his anger, "Well really - that's no way to behave on your first day out."

Murdochy reminded, "Well nobody's perfect - But I do think you made a pretty good job of the body work," as he clandestinely changed the subject. Already outsmarting his master, the creature flexed some muscles for the crowd, who quickly gave him what the master wanted – praise. The room burst into rowdy applause.

Master George soaked it up. He bragged, loud for all to hear, "You are the result of many hours of toil - and now my beautiful creature you're ready for the ultimate test."

To that, Murdochy replied, sounding worried, "Oh dear."

Turning to the three important men at the head of the crowd, Master George said, "But first meet the family. Well, _Pendrick_ , what do you think?

James Pendrick answered, Julia now recognizing his likely role in the whole endeavor, "He's a credit to my, err, to our genius."

Stepping his creature over to stand before the two spies, Meyers and Clegg, the master asked, " _Meyers?_ "

"A triumph of the will," the tall man in coattails decreed, then taking a puff on his stinky cigar, prompting Murdochy to pull back and wrinkle his face, not liking his first encounter with the unpleasant smoke.

"And you Mr. Clegg? Is the United States impressed as well?" Master George asked. There was hesitation and the master grew impatient, "What do you think?" he demanded.

Alan Clegg was sure to take his time. Having been highly stimulated by the creature's earlier sexual perusal of the Ogden woman, he had managed to lose his resulting erection, fortunately before all eyes had turned his way. Thus, feeling threatened by his own desires, he was not at all pleased with the creature's display of… sexual appetite. "He's OK," he decided to answer.

Master George also slowed his response. He needed to impress this particular man, needed no trouble from such a powerful country as America. "OK," he started calmly, but his emotion got the better of him and he piped up, "OK! I think we can do better than that," with a huff. "Well, _Darcy and Julia_ , what do you think?" he asked.

Suddenly stopping his approach towards the toff couple, thinking better of bringing his creature any closer to the enticing woman standing there. Master George and Murdochy ended up in the very center of the room when Julia answered, with a self-conscious giggle, "I don't like men with too many muscles…"

 _Oh, that did it! The master could take no more!_ His high heels rapping on the floor, he grabbed Murdochy once more by the wrist and hauled the barely clothed muscle-man across the floor as he exclaimed, "I didn't make him for you. He carries the Charles Atlas seal of approval," his chin shoved high in the air.

He halted them near the front door and turned back to the crowd. "Maestro," he called out to the ceiling. The lights went dim and a spotlight fell upon Master George and his prized Murdochy.

Now, Master George would plead his case, with a song…

"A weakling weighing 98 pounds, gets sand in his face when kicked…" the high-heeled master kicked the air for emphasis, "to the ground. But soon in the gym, with determined chin…" he reached over and admiringly stroked Murdochy's manly chin. The master continued, "The sweat from his pores, as he works for his cause, will make him glisten and gleam. And with massage and just a bit of steam, he'll be pink but quite clean…"

Beginning his most raunchy part of his song, the master posed Murdochy for the crowd, bending both elbows and signaling for him to flex, he sang it out loudly, "He'll be a strong man!"

And the crowd called out forebodingly, "But the wrong man!"

Defending his creation against such premonitions, Master George explained in song, "He's a brilliant, intelligent man. And so good with his hands. He'll be able to fix our machine, and figure out where to aim the beam. His bravery is unbeatable. He'll lead the mission, undefeatable. After that, whatever woman he chooses will be his prize, but that, he is yet to surmise…" and then Master George marched and strutted about, dragging along his dream-hero he'd flout, and he belted his conclusion out, "And in just seven days, I can make you a man!"

The master invited Murdochy up on top of the box and then rubbed his corset-fishnet stocking clad body up against his creation seductively. He sang out as he stroked and admired each part, "But a deltoid and a bicep…" Murdochy rose to the occasion, his stunning body rising everyone's libidinous urges, he flexed his muscles and showed it off. Master George rolled his eyes up in their sockets to emphasize the extent of his being completely charmed by the creature. He went on with his song, standing behind Murdochy now, he reached around and threatened to untie the strap of the gorgeous man's loincloth that was snug around his upper thigh as he sang, "A hot groin and a tricep," and then the master pumped into Murdochy's backside as he sang his final words, "Makes me want to shake. Makes me want to take Charles Atlas…" and he reached around from behind and hovered over Murdochy's bulging loincloth to linger, momentarily entertaining the salacious thought, and fight the urge, "by the han – han-han-hand." With that, having regained his self-control, Master George dismounted from the top of the white box and proudly held his arm out for all to admire his creation still atop the box, as the phantom voices were piped into the room again to sing…

"In just seven days, he can make you a man."

The presentation ended and everyone filed out. Darcy and Julia watched on from the sidelines as Master George ordered Murdochy to begin work in the Planning Room. He was to study the plans for the Time Warp machine. He was charged with fixing it… by tomorrow! Murdochy also needed to analyze the ancestor's maps, and determine which way to go. There was evidence that their mortal enemies were after them, would be here any day now, and they wanted to have escaped this place before the bloodthirsty enemies arrived.

Pendrick defended Murdochy, explaining that the mission, as Master George had just outlined it, was impossible, even for such a hero. Making matters worse, Meyers had ordered a stepped-up defense against the impending arrival of their enemies, detailing that all hands should man their stations and be on the lookout all night long. He argued that even Pendrick could not be spared to help Murdochy, as he was needed to share shifts with Clegg watching the cameras for imposters within the castle. He insisted that there was evidence that at least one enemy had infiltrated the lines and was here.

It was when Julia overheard Clegg remind the group of men that part of the mission included gaining an understanding of the similarities and differences, particularly the genetic ones, between the evolving humans of this planet, and their cousins, the gorillas, chimpanzees and the less well-known bonobos, that she stepped forward. Darcy was so surprised his jaw hung opened and no words of protest could manage to be raised.

"I have extensive biological training and a strong understanding of genetics. Further, in my studies of psychiatry, I have worked with all of the species you listed…" she offered her expertise. It was Pendrick who explained to her that solving this particular mystery was the key to understanding how to ultimately survive, and possibly coexist, or conquer if necessary, their enemies.

To her astonishment, she was quickly sent along to join Murdochy in the Planning Room. She felt a strange vindication and guilty pleasure when her uptight fiancé was sent to his room and ordered to stay inside under danger of being mistaken for an invader and killed.

In the narrow dark hallway, she wondered to herself about her claim. _She had no training in psychiatry? Why would she say that? And yet, she knew much about the species they had discussed_ , she reminded herself. She even ran through some rather specific information, like that chimps live in groups and the males mate with as many of the females as possible, while gorillas live in harems, with only one male mating with his females. _Weirdest of all_ , she thought, _were the bonobos, for they too live in large social groups, but every bonobo has sex with every other bonobo, nearly constantly. As a matter of fact, the way bonobos settle arguments is with sex. She wondered about humans…_ She had arrived at the door.

) (

Julia opened the door to the Planning Room as quietly as possible. He had not heard her. She stood silently for a moment and admired William from afar. _My God, he was a gorgeous man_ _– even more so wearing nothing more than a loincloth_. But now, huddled over a series of plans and designs on a worktable, he looked so much more like the William she knew. Intense, focused… _Truly so very beautiful_ she felt her heart begin to pang and throb, vibrating with love for him. He surprised her when he broke the silence, speaking to her without lifting his head. _He had known she was there_ , she felt a pang of embarrassment blush her face.

"I have been charged with a daunting task. Is it possible you can help?" he asked.

She wondered if he had somehow forgotten their earlier, rather sultry encounter. Briefly, the memory flashed, _his savage… smelling… it had thrilled her so…_ She took a deep breath and stepped into the room. Every cell in her body reminded her how much she loved working with William on challenging puzzles. The feelings pumping through her bordered on joy.

"Possibly," she answered.

"Good," was all he said.

She stepped close, fought against the physical pull she felt between them, told herself to focus. "Are these the plans for the Time Warp Machine?" she asked, her eyes travelling across the multiple geometric figures and calculated calculus on the edges of the pages.

"Based on the ideas of parabolas," William explained.

"Yes, I see," she answered, glimpsing her hand across the central portion of the plans that showed the symmetrical arch.

"If you are better with maps, the ones said to show where we are now and where we want to go are over there," William said. He lifted his face for the first time since she had entered the room and she followed his eyes over to a desk against the wall.

Her eyes stayed on his face. He turned and looked at her. Puzzled by his expression, she reminded herself he had only been on the earth as a conscious being for a few hours. She smiled. She noticed that in response he took a breath, but he did not return the smile. The smallest chuckle slipped out of her, although she was certain he would not know what laughing was either. She recognized at least one thing about him – he was focused on solving the case now. This part of William she knew well. She felt safe, and happy, and excited. And she wanted to help, to be a team with him again.

"I believe you will excel there as well," she admitted, "but in the interest of time, I'll take a look." Suddenly becoming self-conscious of her still skimpy clothing as she crossed the room, she felt his eyes on her. She unrolled the map. _Latitude and longitude, but something more than that as well._ She shook her head at herself. She felt her insides surging with lust, and it was setting off alarms within her. He had shown himself to lack self-control earlier… _perhaps this was not such a good idea_ the warning bells in her head alerted. She swallowed back the fear, and with that swallow she also hoped she had dispelled the lust, and said as nonchalantly as possible, "I'm more of an expert on the different ape species… and genetics."

Inside William's head he found it odd that he _seemed to be having a conversation_! He told himself to, " _Control your urges_." His eyes dropped down to his loincloth. It was large once again, he noticed. He found he quite liked the sensations he felt when his groin bulged so. Again, that inner talking said, " _that's why you need to control it. Say something about the apes… the books!_ " he remembered.

William watched his own groin and said, as if to an empty room, "The books on primate genetics and evolution are in the drawers in the desk." He noticed the marvelous sensations lessening, but the bulge seemed to stay just as big. " _Perhaps it takes a little more time_ ," he heard himself say in his head.

"William," she called, her eyes down on the map.

He felt a powerful reaction to her utterance! This time the magnificent sensation more in his chest than in his groin. _This feeling was also marvelous_ , he observed. He was about to ask her why she called him that name, but she continued to speak, distracting him.

"There is something quite interesting… and I believe important, about this map…" she said, her eyes still down on the ancient looking paper, her finger seeming fixed, holding to a particular spot.

"Oh," he said. His own eyes stayed down on his loincloth. He showed no signs of getting up off of his stool.

She remembered his situation, his newness with relating to others, and figured she would need to tell him to what to do, for there was no way for him to know. "Come here and see," she instructed.

He stood next to her observing as she pointed at a dot on the map. "At first, I figured these would be towns… places here on earth, but I recognize this one…"

He read its name out, "Polaris," he said. He turned his head to the side and they shared a look, and she noticed that this time he smiled with her. "A star," he said.

"Yes," she answered, her smile growing bigger. "I thought it might just be a coincidence, since the North Star is used by so many in navigation. But there's another," she declared with obvious glee. Her eyes jumped back down to the map. "See here!" she said, pointing.

"Alpha Centauri," he read. "That one is closest to us!" he stated in a rush. He was communicating his excitement, and it was contagious. "It's a map of the heavens… not of the surface of the planet here!" he declared.

"Yes! Yes, William," she exclaimed.

He again thought to ask her about that name she calls him, " _William…_ "

"What do you take all these lines to be? See here," Julia continued analyzing the map. She felt him lean forward and return his attention to the star map. "Deneb and Betelgeuse are on the same line, this outermost one," she said, her finger tracing the line connecting the two stars. She turned to see his face. He was entranced. She recognized the expression… his spectacular mind was running out scenarios. She would need to wait now.

His line of sight shifted to another line on the map as he said aloud, "Those two stars are both very large… and luminous. Perhaps…" There was a pause as he considered the stars on the next line. "It's definitely not temperature, these two stars would be on the same line, they're about 3000 Kelvin," he thought out loud, inviting her partnership on the quest.

Julia noticed his fingers spread across the map, one under the name Betelgeuse, his other finger rested under Bernard's Star. "Those two stars are both red, aren't they?" she asked.

He considered her question, twisting up his face, a gesture she recognized and loved of William's. It felt so familiar, so comfortable, to be with him. "I guess temperature and color would be directly related," he reasoned with a subtle shrug.

Realizing that he could never have seen the nighttime sky, so he would not be able to imagine the different colors of the stars through direct experience, she said, "Of course, you've never seen them." Her mind added a thought, " _Even though it was_ _ **you**_ _who pointed the different colors out to me…"_

 _Her utterance, its accompanying thought, brought with it a sinking sense of sadness, for one of her fondest memories was from when she and William were first falling in love, working on a case that Constable Crabtree thought involved aliens from outer-space… And she had found William staring up at the nighttime sky. He had complimented her hair being wild and free… and she had spun so deliciously in love with him. He had almost kissed her as they sat together in the pagoda – she was sure of it. If the starship had not flown overhead – of course, the ship turning out to be, in fact, merely a dirigible. That was when they first met Meyers_ … She scolded herself, " _off on a tangent again… Always because of William,_ " she noticed.

Julia forced her mind back onto the map. She added, _her skin tingled to alert as it brushed across his when she reached across the map,_ to point at Alpha Centauri and Polaris. "These two are both yellow stars, and they're not on the same line either," she added.

William leaned back and she recognized the tone, he was summing up the clues so far. "So the lines don't represent temperature because then Alpha Centauri and Polaris would need to be on the same line, as would Betelgeuse and Bernard's Star, and they are not. It could be size… or luminosity. Not only are the really large, bright stars on the same line…" he leaned back into the map, and in so doing their bodies touched once more.

 _She felt it… her body quivered_. She gasped slightly, embarrassed. He seemed not to notice, though she spotted the slightest curl at the edge of his mouth, suggesting a smile… It reminded her of the Mona Lisa…

He continued making his point, "See Rigel is over here next to Betelgeuse. They're both big and bright." He reached up and rubbed his head. _She knew the gesture to represent stress, at least in the other William_. "But why is this other star, Deneb, on this same line with these two big, bright stars, but way over on the other side of the map?"

 _It hit her with a bolt! She had it!_ Her intake of air drew his beautiful eyes to hers, "Could they be in their constellations, William?!" she screeched with excitement.

Oh, he knew that would be it… at least it would explain where the stars were relative to each other on the map. "Yes!" he declared, "I believe so." He dropped his eyes to the map to check the theory. "Yes… That's definitely it. Betelgeuse and Rigel are together in Orion, and Sirius in Canis Major would fit in there, and Pollux in Gemini would be right about there!" He turned to look at her, his eyes sparkling and dancing, evoking such a surge in her heart. "Even the two we'd expect in Centaurus are right – Alpha Centauri and Proxima Centauri. You're amazing Julia!" he said, reaching over and giving her a playful shove.

She played it coy, ducking her chin and saying, "I'm glad you think so," splurging by giving him a tiny curtsey.

"The spacing between the lines is not scaled correctly for size or luminosity, though," he added, going back to the problem at hand.

" _Typical_ ," she told herself, _"Just like William to minimize the celebration."_

With a sigh, she said, "Well, what would be related to size and luminosity?" she asked.

Her question would be the shove Murdochy's mind needed. "Of course," he almost whispered it. He leaned close to the map once more, his fingers seemingly randomly bouncing from star to star on the map. He lifted his face and his gleeful face stared into hers. "Age!" he exclaimed.

"The lines represent age?" she asked.

"Yes!" that explains the scaling perfectly," he replied. He pulled her into a hug.

She failed to fight it in that moment. _She was in his arms! His smell… My God! He smells like William! He truly does!_ She wrapped her arms around him tight. "We've always made a good team, William," she said into his ear, her warm, humid breath splashing over and down into his neck.

She felt a shift in him. He softened, took a deep breath. " _He feels it too_ ," she thought to herself, " _At home, like this – with me_." Something deep, deep inside of her rocked and swayed and soared with the sound of his voice, not only its perfect pitch, aligned octave, in her ear, but those warm, rippling vibrations rising into her face from his chest as he spoke to her so intimately…

"Why do you call me this name… William?" he asked, still holding her close to him.

She felt the plummet of sadness with his question, the mere existence of such a question reminding her that he was NOT William. She was _**not**_ with William – probably never would be again… Her heart wrenched with the ache of it. She leaned back, but he held tight, and she gave in, and melted back into his arms. _So odd_ , she found she was fighting back tears.

"Master George explained… during the presentation. You were made from a particular man's cell. His name was William… William Murdoch," she disclosed.

Stillness, soft, peaceful, safe stillness… waited.

 _William danced about in the wash of feelings he was having – all of them so unfamiliar, like the first time you see blue, or yellow, or purple. He had no name for the dominant one, not yet. He would come to know it as sadness, and he was feeling it because_ _ **SHE**_ _was feeling it… And such a possibility as that was inconceivable to him right now. There was another feeling wrapped into the mix – trust. He stayed there with her, knowing she would care for him… knowing that she_ _ **did**_ _care for him._

Julia felt as if she were drowning in a warm, soothing bath. " _Acceptance, maybe,_ " she wondered. William had the most remarkable heart she had ever known, and try as she might to tell herself that _this_ William, with his amazing brain, and quite impressive body… well, he didn't have William's experiences, and Julia worried, " _Can he ever have William's heart without having William's experiences? Can he know loneliness without losing his mother and his father and Susannah? Can he truly know bravery without having to face such loss – like when he chose to die in Gillies' trap to save her from the noose? Can he know what it is to be starving, to be weaker and at the mercy of another, if he has never been so? Can he have empathy? Can he ever be William without that empathy?_ " Her heart's soreness told her that she thought not. She was grieving… But perhaps, the only course was acceptance, perhaps…

"Do you remember me… from before?" she asked, already despairing for she knew his response.

"No," he replied quickly.

"William, you sang a song during the presentation," she pulled out of his arms to lift her face to look into his eyes, "Remember?"

"About the sword hanging by a horse's tail over my head," he answered.

 _She felt toasty and close to him, the way he shared with her now, his voice so low. Then she watched as he wrinkled only one side of his mouth – EXACTLY as William would do when admitting to something!_

If he knew how, he would have chuckled, "I thought that was about the horse's testicles, that my master put into the ingredients. And how they would make my libido very… strong, and that would be my weakness, the way they would control me," he explained.

"That is truly insightful, William," she admired. "There is a good chance that you have much of the meaning… with those connections, I suppose," she went on. Julia separated from him, stepping back a few steps. She dropped her eyes away from his and said, "But, you sang about, um, thinking " _ **SHE'll"**_ be cutting the thread. That SHE had a new job, and would go. You sang that you thought SHE no longer loved you …" Julia's voice had begun to squeak as it did when she became upset. She heard it herself. She looked up at him. " _Did he recognize…_ "

He remembered singing those things. _My God, her eyes were such a magnificent blue as they held so powerfully to his._ He ran the song through his mind… He began to shake his head… and _there was that feeling again… it hurt, this feeling,_ he noticed. "I, uh…" _he would do anything to make her curl her lips up again, and have that twinkling in her eyes. Anything to take away that look she had now, so desperate._ " _ **Why can't you remember?**_ _!_ " he reprimanded himself. Then came, a small hope… he remembered another line from the song. His eyes seized hers again, his look promising…

"And yet it is I wonder – how could I have lost her before I had ever even found her," he said. And he knew in his bones that she was right. She was the one in his song. _**She was the one! She was the one!**_

"But I feel you have lost me," she said, so quietly, so defeated in tone…

And his hurt surged again, the pain of it intolerable.

"And also, I have found you, no?" he asked.

"Perhaps," she replied, unconvincingly. Julia lifted up the star map, changing the subject. "So, the lines are ages, and the locations are constellations. What about the parabolas… on the Time Warp Machine plans?" she asked.

She watched as William… Murdochy, reached up to rub his brow, and then exhaled strongly through pursed lips, expelling some of the steaming internal pressure that plagued him. "I should get back to it," he said. He sat back down on the stool, forced himself to pick up a pencil and focus on the last problem he was working on along the edge of the plans.

Julia acknowledged that she was tired. She would study the bonobos, and chimps, and gorilla connections to "these people" tomorrow. For now, she would go to bed.

"Goodnight, then," she said, reassuring herself as she stepped out of the Planning Room and closed the door, that his lack of a reply was not an indication of either being angry or upset with her, but rather due to his lack of knowing proper etiquette – " _only a few hours old, the man_ ," she reminded herself.

) (

Her heart jumped and her hairs stood on end! A figure came up next to her from behind in the hallway.

"I'll show you to your room," Darcy's voice in the darkness.

" _Whew_ ," she exhaled. "You frightened me," she said, immediately regretting it, now anticipating his patronizing reassurances.

Darcy wrapped his arm around her.

She insisted they keep walking. She refused to stop here in the hall and let him be all macho to her. She felt steam rising inside of her. Her jaw was clamping. _How could she ever marry a man who makes her so furious_ , she scolded herself.

"Don't worry darling," he said, "I propose I sleep with you… in your room. To protect you."

"Absolutely not, Darcy," she stopped to accentuate her point, placing her hands on her hips, again realizing she wore only a corset and some stockings. "We are not yet married! And I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself!" She marched forward. She grit her teeth so hard she wondered if she might chip a tooth – he followed along. Not looking back, picking up the pace, she yelled, "Back off mister," and then hurried around the turn to her hallway. She made herself take a breath upon noticing he had not turned the same way.

She passed an open door and paused to look inside. _Oh my God_! Her mind screamed with gossipy, scandalous glee. Naked and writhing, sweaty, and sultry, and moaning and delicious, Columbia-professor Emily Grace and Magenta-haired Nina Bloom enjoyed sexual relations, together, there on the bed. She wondered how Master George would take this? His two lovers, loving each other instead of him? _Oh my!_

Pulling her voyeuristic self away from the sight, she continued down the hallway towards her room. " _How do I know that George has had an affair with Nina Bloom? She asked herself. That doesn't happen until 1904 – it's only 1899! This whole time thing seems completely crazy here…"_

Up ahead, disappointed flooding through her down to her feet, she noticed that Riff-Raff Higgins was waiting in front of her door. He truly gave her the creeps. And he made no effort to cover up his leering and drooling for her. She reminded herself to go for the balls if he got fresh.

"Dr. Ogden, may I help you get settled in for the night?" his scummy voice croaked and hissed.

"No thank you. I'll be fine," she answered nonchalantly.

"Oh, but I insist," he leered, walking through the door before her.

The moment she stepped in, he slammed the door closed and was all over her, kissing and sucking, first her neck, then her bosoming cleavage.

She shoved, and pushed. "Get off!" she insisted with her maximum shove, managing to push some distance between them.

The riff-raff groveled, and bowed, over and over. "I apologize, I apologize… It's just that you're so…" and he made this disgusting, revolting moan… and she thought she might vomit right there and then, because he dry-humped the air… Before she knew it, she had lashed out – kicked him square in the balls.

Riff-Raff Higgins, bent over in half, in excruciating pain, managed to whisper out, "Why did you do that?" as she guided him towards the door.

"To teach you some manners," she barked, shoving him out into the hall. "Damn!" she said out loud as she tried to lock the door… with a lock that did not exist. " _Vulnerable, after all_ ," she thought.

There were blankets, but no bedclothes, not to mention any clothes at all, really. Her mind stuck on the lack of a lock, Julia battled with herself about what to sleep in. This corset, like all others, poked and pinched terribly, and she longed to be free of it. But, without it, she would essentially be naked, albeit for the tiny, little bloomers currently holding up her stockings. " _Be brave_ ," she advised herself, and removed the bits of clothes she had.

 _Oh my God_! The sliding of the clean, fresh sheets over her bare skin felt exquisite. Her body sunk down heavy into the mattress. She was exhausted. " _My, what a day_ ," her brain acknowledged her exhaustion. She wondered if she would be able to sleep, not because of the unlocked door in such a strange place, but because her mind, her heart, was stuck on William… " _What's new?_ " she teased herself, and rolled over trying to turn the page.


	4. Chapter 4: Love Warp

Murdochy Horror Picture Show_4_Love Warp

George the Author's voice floated in from above the ceiling. Down below, Terrence Meyers sat in the Security Room watching multiple small television screens. In one, the one he seemed most interested in, two female figures could be seen lying naked in each other's arms. Finally accepting that the show was over, Terrence leaned back from the screen and took a sip of his tea. " _Interesting,_ " he thought, " _tea seems the same – that's about the only thing though…_ "

 _Something about this warped, hedonistic, libido-centered place caused normal defenses to drop away, he reflected, as he refocused his eyes on another tiny screen – just think of that Murdoch all over the yummy Dr. Ogden earlier_. Still stimulated from watching the two women grind and pump and sweat during their sex-play, Terrence was considering visiting the room of the good doctor. "Mmm," he gave himself a little pleasurable grunt with the memory of her voluptuous body so… vulnerable in her corset.

Although Meyers could not hear it, narration filled the room. "Welcome back," George Crabtree's calmer, more confident voice pumped through the dark castle halls, in the deepest hours of night. "Do pay attention. There are those who say life is an illusion - And reality as we know it, is merely a figment of our imaginations. If this is so, _Darcy and Julia_ are quite safe. But - there are some who have a far more physical philosophy - those who would stop at nothing to satisfy their base desires, _their libidinous urges_ \- It could be that _Darcy and Julia_ are among those who hold the devil's reins. "

Snug in her bed, Julia had drifted off to sleep. Not surprisingly, her dreams tackled her conflicting feelings, engaged to Darcy, still madly in love with William, but confused by her erotic feelings for this new William, so uninhibited, so un… tamed.

In her dream, she could not see him, but Darcy had snuck in, had slipped under the covers…

"Oh _Darcy_ ," she said, considering letting him have his way with her, for she was wildly aroused from a dream with William, and at least that way she could ease some of the dynamic tension it had surged, and because there was something so spellbindingly raunchy about this place. "Oh yes, yes my darling," she uttered into the darkness having reached her body's conclusion. " _So quick?_ " she wondered, and she was troubled, for she barely remembered the experience at all. " _Not very impressive, was it?_ " she told herself. " _More of that to come after the wedding – oh, goody,"_ she rolled her eyes sarcastically as she teased and tortured herself.

At least she wasn't alone. She rested her head on his chest, and her mind dashed in multiple directions, most of her attention chasing thoughts of this new William, the one with all the muscles. " _Wouldn't feel like_ _ **this**_ _resting your head on that hunky chest, now would it?_ " her own mocking voice tormented. Julia sighed deeply. She needed to face it. She had to call off this wedding. She had become cruel now, and her own behavior towards Darcy embarrassed her. She would breach the subject now – get it over with – get it out in the open.

She raised her head and tried to find Darcy's face in the blackness. "What if…"

"It's all right _Julia_ \- everything's going to be all right," Darcy's irritating, patronizing voice attempted to soothe.

Julia's teeth gritted tight again. Her voice exaggerated in feminine wimpiness, she disparaged, "Oh I hope so my darling. I'm so fri…"

Suddenly, a strange light was cast into the room and she could see his face – and it _wasn't_ Darcy after all! Instantaneously convulsions of disgust quivered up and took over her body. It was that repulsive Riff-Raff Higgins! _She'd just had sex with…_ her stomach heaved, the back of her throat became dry, saliva flowed in an effort to prepare for the oncoming retching…

"You!" she screamed out, slapping at him and leaping out of bed.

Riff-Raff Higgins, rotting teeth and green skin, evilly basked in her agony, "I'm afraid so _Julia_ , but wasn't it nice…"

"You beast - you monster," she seethed. Unable to bear her anger for one more second, she jerked him out of bed and kicked him – hard – in the balls, over and over…

It was the tiny jerks of her thigh muscle in real life that woke her.

She was alone, Thank God! In the bed in her room in the master's castle. A familiar fatigue, debilitating pain, immense heaviness paralyzed her every muscle, as she recovered from the fright. "Just a dream – a night mare," she told herself out loud in the dark room.

) (

The door opened to the Security Room, Alan Clegg stepped in and closed the door behind him. Only the light from the little television screens illuminated Meyers' face.

"I made some tea," Meyers said, gesturing towards the tea pot.

Clegg frowned. " _Americans drink coffee, I'm sure he knows that Americans drink coffee,_ " he had a little tantrum in his head. "No thank you," he said.

"How's it going with Murdochy?" Meyers asked, standing, giving his chair to Clegg for his shift.

"Now Terrence, you know I'm not one to be optimistic…" Clegg started.

Once again, Terrence Meyers felt his chest fill with pride. " _Even in a crazy dream like this, that Murdoch comes through in the end. The man really is quite a marvel,_ " he thought.

"He has deciphered the map, and figured out the meaning of the equations on the plans for the Time Warp Machine," Clegg explained. "The creature claims the trick will be to set the controls to zero first… He said it was like rebooting it, or clearing a calculator before you add in new numbers… But I gotta tell you, none of that made any sense to me." Clegg sat in the chair and then asked, "You?"

Meyers lit a cigar, the light from the match casting long, flickering shadows throughout the room. "I'm used to not understanding what Murdoch says. I'm just satisfied that he's always right," he added.

"Let's hope so," Clegg replied, sounding doubtful. "Of course, this creature of Crabtree's is no Murdoch," Clegg crossed his legs, for he felt an erection coming on. _In his mind, he replayed the enticing scene between the savage creature and the lovely doctor. He wallowed in the sight of the brute's bulging muscles dwarfing her curvy pink body, and then that… Mmm – mmm – mmm… sniffing. My God, I thought he was going to take her right there!_

With a jerk, Clegg forced himself to stop his kinky thoughts. Even so, subconsciously, his already throbbing groin _jolted_ when he glanced at the television screens. Dr. Ogden seemed to be restless in her bed, tossing and turning… _Shouldn't be long now_ …

"A-hem," Clegg cleared his throat. Meyers had been saying something about not underestimating the Murdochy creature, he was sure. "I told that…" Clegg waved his hand about dismissively, "thing… that he had done well, and he could take the rest of the night off." Clegg stopped the information right there. _There was no reason anyone else needed to know that he had all but sent the beast to Dr. Ogden's room, telling the savage that he had done well and now he could go take care of that oversized, stallion charged, libido his master had blessed him with – and in the process, take care of the lovely lady too… "And me," Alan Clegg relished, "I wouldn't miss this show for all the world."_ He needed to get that annoying Meyers out though, in order to enjoy the show.

"Terrence," he had an idea, "I believe that vixen, magenta-haired Miss Bloom, is looking quite… lonely. I see here she just left the room of Columbia-professor Dr. Grace. She'll be wanting some more _**manly**_ attention now, I figure." _Secretly he chuckled to himself with how easily his fellow spy was manipulated…_

"Then, I'll be off," Meyers hurried, "Where is Miss Bloom headed?" he puffed his question, clouded in cigar smoke.

"It seems to me towards the Zen Room," Clegg replied.

The door closed, _and Lord, oh Lord_ , Clegg's erection leaped. On the monitor, he saw Murdochy opening Dr. Ogden's door…

) (

Stealthily, he surprised himself with his abilities to be sneaky, William closed the door behind himself with the most negligible of clicks. His eyes, already adjusted to the darkness, searched the bed, wondering if she had heard.

She had. She had not been able to fall back asleep since her awful nightmare about Riff-Raff Higgins, and right now she strained to make out who had invaded her room. The figure was too big to be Riff-Raff Higgins – _Thank God_.

Her breath caught when his outline clicked into place in her mind. _**Untamed William**_! Alert, panic, and hope, all cascaded and barreled and trumpeted through her.

Hearing her tiny gasp, William felt a surge of disappointment. _He would no longer have the advantage of surprise._ He froze standing there, questioning himself about his reactions and his thoughts. _Why had he hoped to creep up on her? What was it that he was going to do with her anyway?_ Right there, he shook his head at himself, for these things he did not know.

He knew only one thing for certain, his brain kept going back to the few moments in his life when the world spun out control, and his head felt… liquidy, and dizzy, _and My God – the smell of that woman_ … _the way her flesh felt in his hands, her breath steamy and hot against his chest… And that delicious, delicious tautness… power, massive, throbbing, bulging, forceful, power in his groin. And although he could not fathom what would come next, he knew he wanted to do THAT again. Yes, it was true – he had an URGE!_

Julia sat up slowly in her bed. "William, is that you?" she called out, already knowing the answer, but wanting to assess… _the creature's_ mood. Her nightmare had rendered her paranoid, and she had to admit, fear was winning out over all of the other emotions inside of her. It took three, really four, men to get him off of her earlier – and there was no one else here…

Part of William ordered himself to answer her, another part advised remaining silent. "Mm-hmm," was what resulted. He stepped closer.

Julia slid back away from him in her bed. "You shouldn't be here, William." She said, her voice taking on a warning tone.

He heard the change in emotion… It served to rouse him more. He already had gotten a little _whiff…_ _My God! That swelling and screaming in his groin, magnificent, intolerable, unignorable!_

"William," she said, amazing herself with the authority in her voice. But… it was too late. He was over her. So massive… and close. He pushed her down towards the mattress – not in a hurry, but never a pause nor hesitation neither. Solid, firm, he pushed down, he pushed in.

Julia found she was feeling stunned… She had no intention of letting this man – _William Murdoch or not_ , treat her like some receptacle for his lustful urges! She had a right to control, to decide, what happened to her body – _HER_ body – NOT HIS! Anger and terror… and truth be told the slightest, slightest tickle of lust, rushed through her every cell.

So quickly the one emotion won out over the other, and she plummeted down the cliff of terror. William was _sniffing_ her again, pinning her solidly to the mattress, his hands holding her down – locking her down completely, it seemed, with their overwhelming strength. And he smelled, her hair, her neck… _MY God_ , his mouth, wet, hot, soft…

Her humid, luscious scent not enough, only seeming to wet his appetite, William had found he needed to taste this woman as well. Not disappointed, the ravenous, throbbing demanding in his groin rocketed him higher the moment his tongue slid across her skin, slurping her in. _Oh, this woman was GOOD_. He wanted more… he had to taste every inch of this delicious, delicious woman. Rushing, barreling, starving, he drank her in. Sucking her in, pulling her in, nibbling her scrumptious body, squeezing the juices out of her, inch by inch along her neck, her jawline, her chin, his body pressed down harder, pounding, pounding, pounding, taking on a rhythm that called, so enticingly, to his most primitive beast.

The eagerness of the man on top of her, his abandon, his focus, impenetrable, Julia had let go of believing she had any chance of _talking_ him out of it. She rallied a massive struggle, fighting with every muscle against him, knees thrashing upwards, fists surging, over and over. "Get off of me, William! Stop it! STOP IT!" she grunted and demanded, as she pummeled against him with all her might. Yet, he was too physically close to her for any of her efforts to land with significant impact, and he only leaned heavier into her in response to her wriggling.

"Julia," his beautiful, William-sounding voice said, seemingly uninfluenced by her resistance.

A twitch. A tiny, tiny twitch of desire sparked for a moment. _William – William – the man of her dreams, now wild, wanting her, taking her,_ unaware that that the fruit was forbidden. Her mind had rushed forward, pictured what was to come, for the minutest of seconds, she imagined him penetrating her, moaning with heavenly relief and fueled by feral desires to have more. She had imagined the power of his thrusts, deep inside of her, and her womb had flipped over and knotted with desire for him.

Perhaps the creature had imagined the same thing, for it was in that moment that his hand roughly grabbed at her bloomers, shoving them downwards, freeing her flesh.

The panic, the anger, the indignation, surged by that catalyst, that closeness to the flame, erupted a fury within her and she lost control – _Who the hell did he think he was?!_ No longer concerned _for him_ , forgetting that _he_ would feel the pain, if she…

Julia bit him as hard as she could. Her teeth gnashed into the flesh of his jaw, just in front of his ear. The taste of blood filled her senses, she noticed, before her kicks, her punches landed with more force. He was moving back!

Instantly she found herself standing, back against the window, her hands up and ready to continue the fight.

The pain of her bite drew every inch of his attention. Instinctively he reached up to touch the place that stung. Upon pulling his fingers away, he startled with the sight of his fingertips trickled with a red watery, slippery, warm substance… He jumped up and stared Julia in the eye.

 _Shocked, angry, confused?_ Julia bolted to read the creature's emotions. Much of her mind reminded of a sense of trust and caring with the sight of _this_ man's eyes, _this_ man's face. Despite it, her own anger, her own fear, took precedence still, over whatever it was she decided _he_ was feeling.

The power of her own voice amazed her as she ordered, " **William Murdoch, don't you dare force yourself on me!** "

 _William felt as if he'd fallen down the rabbit-hole. She had hurt him – bitten him! Why would she do that? And again, she calls me this name? …She is repulsed, disgusted… by me?_

 _Julia's eyes were captured by the look on his face, so puzzled and perplexed, and… something else was there… perhaps hurt?_

Suddenly, the degree of her loss flung her into a strange, multiple-worlded oblivion. _William Murdoch,_ _ **William Murdoch**_ , would do _**that**_ … to _**HER**_! Not only had she been violated – _almost_ – by this man, but she realized now that, _if he did this_ , she would not only have lost William… (through her own stubborn stupidity by leaving him for Buffalo, and deciding to accept Darcy's proposal), but she would have lost the very _ideal of a William – her internal holding of a knowledge of a man such as him in the world, in her world._ If he did this to her, she would _lose so much more_ than just control of her own body, she would lose even her memories and dreams of such a man, of such a love, as she had believed existed with him. Tears flooded and burned as they deluged out of her eyes.

Her voice, affected, rose to a squeak. "Don't you dare do that to me William. It would destroy me, crush me. I couldn't withstand any more… loss of you…" Small, little sobs choked out of her in spurts, and her tiny shoulders quaked. "The disappointment, the betrayal… I couldn't survive it. Please…"

 _Ouch, with such severity_ , he felt his heart, his chest collapsing, falling into ache and regret, and worry. _How could anything hurt this bad?_ _ **He**_ _had hurt her – HURT HER! She was… leaking. He had squeezed too hard! He had broken her!_ Suddenly, a self-loathing seized him.

Unsure, he asked, "Did I break you?" he stepped closer… She did not recoil. "You are leaking – I squeezed you too hard?" he asked, his hand tenderly lifting, still feet away from her tear-stained cheeks, his thumb opening, wanting so to explore the liquid, to take it off of her, to fix her.

Julia sniffled, and said, her tenor less of a squeak now, responding to the little voice inside of her that soothed _it was alright, he cared, he was back in control of himself…_

"It is not _leaking_ , it's crying." Her blue eyes warmed into his. A deep breath and her chest rose and dropped, neither of them yet reacting to the nakedness of her, both still immersed in the emotions of their shared turmoil and cataclysm. "But… it is sort of because you squeezed… too hard. You scared me… that you would do… whatever you want to do to me, and not care what I want. Promise me you'll never force yourself on me, William - promise."

William wanted nothing in the world but to hold her, to repair the damage he had done. Such alarm and alert and desperation he had never felt, as if everything that ever was, or ever would be, depended on him taking this pain away from her. He would do anything – absolutely anything, to fix it.

William stepped to her, and she held his eye, she did not flinch, but rather a relief washed over her instead, with his tenderness. His voice was in her ear, his scent, the heat of his breath, as he leaned close, their naked chests touching, "I promise," he said.

Melting, her eyes closed with relief, and his arms enclosed her as her body grew heavier against his.

"I promise," he swore again.

 _Better, he felt better_. Yet, responsibility hollered at him and he knew he would have to ask, "But you may have to explain…" he cleared his throat and stepped back so he could take in her face, "so I know what not to do."

Julia's spontaneous giggle peppered the air, for their predicament was beyond ridiculous. This man before her, was William and he was not William, and he did not know about… any of it really. Pushing him back a step, but staying tight with her eyes, she explained, "You have, ' _urges_ ,' your master called them." Her hand pressed against his lovely chest, keeping him at arm's length.

William swallowed. This he knew, intensely. He nodded.

"And you would have no way of knowing, but women… I… have _urges_ too," she ventured, "But what you wanted to do was _**not**_ something you do alone. It was something you would do _**WITH**_ me." Julia paused here, feeling it was an important point. He was quite focused, but maybe he needed a bit more. "Not _**TO**_ me, William. Do you understand?" she asked.

He didn't, but he felt himself nod anyway. " _Odd that I would do that_ ," he thought.

"William…"

Her voice was knowing, and confident, the strength of it resounded deeply into him, filling him with a feeling of trust, and optimism. Julia Ogden was truly brilliant, and he loved her with all his heart!

"… You need to ask the woman – me – you need my permission… or perhaps encouragement," she added with a shrug, "um, before you let go of that _urge_ you feel. If I say 'no,' then you must _not_ do what it is that the urge is pushing you to do." Her eyes held his and she waited for his response.

William moved back a step further, as his awareness of what he had done wrong became more clear, more shaped, in his mind. "I see," he replied, his tone revealing the gravity with which he had felt her words.

"Can you do that?" she asked plainly. She hadn't realized that he had looked away, confronting his own demons and weaknesses… and strengths, until his astounding, beautiful brown eyes connected with hers once more.

"Yes. I think so," he answered.

Explosion, eruption, blossoming and cascading and rippling through her heart, her whole body, her love for him overwhelmed her with its gush. She shook her head and said, as she stepped within an inch of him, "My God, William Murdoch, I love you."

Then, her fingers in his hair, her thumbs tracing along his ear, a slight pause upon feeling the swelling of the bite she had given him, just before her nipples tickled against his skin, and she heard his breath catch, and he felt the soupy spinning begin, and he hoped with all his might that this was, " _encouragement_ ," and she kissed his lips, and he plummeted.

His hands on her hips, up, behind her, rough, he pulled her closer. _My God_ , the kiss deepened abysmally. Julia's womb twisted and wrenched with such force a moan echoed into his mouth and her knees bent way. Clinging for dear life, she held on to him. She felt him, down low on her body, growing harder, and that awareness shoved her uncontrollably towards the edge. Her mind pictured what she had craved for, longed for… had yearned for, for years and years, William, making love to her, deep, and hard, and strong. She wanted him… _And My God_ , he wanted her.

Her fingers adept with hunger, quickly found the string holding his loincloth taught around his waist. Found the right end to pull, tighter, tighter, it resisted at first. Then – _pop_ – it whispered, letting go and the leathery cloth dropped, hovering, held up, kept from the floor by…

"Julia," he moaned, releasing her mouth, hunting her ear.

"Yes, William," she replied out of breath.

He yelled at himself to ask her. He needed _permission_.

Julia stepped back. His loincloth fell, now hanging by the strings keeping it dangling from his upper thighs. _He was magnificent_ , she thought, _magnificent_.

He watched her look down at him, noticed her pupils grow big, dark, vacuumous, they tugged at him so.

" _Ask her! Ask her_!" he yelled.

) (

Alan Clegg had never had such a thrill in all his days. Transfixed to the monitor, he gasped with his luck. _Oh, this was going to happen…_

) (

Her magnetic blue eyes lifted and touched his chocolaty brown ones. "You are beautiful, William," she whispered.

His jaw locked tight as he fought against it. She stepped close to him again, prompting him to swallow. It seemed that even the voice that had been screaming at him to ask her permission had swirled away in the maelstrom inside of his head. Somehow, he managed to shake his head 'no' at himself. His last, ditch effort at fulfilling his promise to her.

"Please, William," she whispered. Her hands reached up around his neck, bringing her scrumptious, soft, pliable body, with its delicious protrusions, pressing into him.

His groin rose… wet, slippery, warm yielding flesh met it. "Mmm," a devastating moan surged out of his throat. His head thundered and rolled, and spun in such a whirlwind, he… he…

She was lifted into his arms – down on the bed – he was on top of her – she pulled him so tight – she opened her legs – and he touched the lushness again – and he pushed in – AND MY GOD, she gave way as she hugged around him, and he slid in deeper, and deeper.

BOOM! His first thrust rocked her, delicious with its power. Then, like a tidal wave having covered the beach, his ocean pulled back against her, her every cell tugged and tortured with his retreat. There was a gentle, silent pause. The direction shifted.

WHAM! His next thrust shoved in deeper. " _Don't stop!_ " her head begged. Then that wash of hope as he pulled back again, powering up for another rumbling surge. Such anticipation filled her as she gasped breathless. " _Please William,_ " in her head, "Please William," in her throat, " **Please William,** " in his ear.

ROAR! CRASH! THUNDER! He pounded into her again, and again, and again, harder, deeper, faster, wild… wild. He was so close now. He gave each push everything he had, everything.

"Don't stop William, please don't stop," she called, urging him on, but pleading for him to wait for her as well.

" _Right there, she's right there! My God this woman is delicious, so unbelievably delicious,"_ he thought as he stretched to reach that last impossible distance. And then he felt it, the heavenly guarantee. Oh, it would bowl him over with its sweetness, over and over him, though every molecule of his body, he felt the heat rush. "Mmm" his saved voice reverberated in her ear. Then one, two, three aftershocks…

And Julia knew he had reached that one perfect spot, and she was so close herself, and she refused to let it go, and she pumped against him faster, and harder, and then came her reward, for she felt the tumult, the lift and float, before the inevitable fall, and then she plummeted from an unbearable height, and she only wanted him closer, and she sucked him in with all her might, before the waves gushed and flooded out from her center and vibrated each and every one of her atoms, aligning them with this man, whom she loved with all of her heart and all of her soul. Delightful splurges slowed, then softened… then stopped.

She exhaled, swallowed, and she dropped away into the mattress as he melted weighty into her – soft, spent, dense with heaviness on top of her.

"William," she said, her voice raspy with dryness from the effort. Her lips kissed against his cheek.

" _THAT was unbelievable_ ," William thought to himself. Never, ever again would he be the same. He knew it. His first attempt at speaking failed, producing only a dry scratch, before he swallowed and returned her name, "Julia."

He rolled onto his side, she with him. His fingers stroked the outlines of her face, played with her curls. He cherished her, treasured her. Then the soft skin of her shoulders. She tucked into him closer. Eventually talk came.

Studying the beauty of her face, he wondered, as he traced the corner of her mouth, he asked her about her smile. "This curve here," his hushed voice so warm and intimate, "it's quite beautiful."

"That's a smile William," she answered, "I'm happy."

"Like when we discovered the meanings of the star map?" he asked, remembering the surge of joy in his chest as they had shared this look – these smiles.

"Yes," she answered him.

Julia's fingers reached out and caressed the edges of his smile. "I know you are happy now," she told him, "because I see your smile."

William assessed the warmth and throbbing he felt in his chest. "Yes," he replied, "it feels quite wonderful."

He noticed that her smile grew bigger, seeming to light up her face. "So, you understand," she said.

"And to know that I understand makes you happy," he stated.

 _Oh my_ , how love for him ripped through her, tore her to shreds. "Yes, William, it does," she replied.

William leaned down to whisper in her ear, "I'd like to try it again, making love… with you.

"That would be lovely… If you feel, um ready?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, questioning her, and her heart flipped over with his familiar gesture. "Oh William," she declared, "I love you so much." Against her will, and unannounced, her eyes filled with tears.

So quickly, he looked concerned. He rubbed a billowing drop from her cheek with his thumb.

"Don't worry, William. They're happy ones," she said. Yet she knew there was more to it than that. She would tell him about the many different kinds of tears that fall, but only to herself did she admit, that with her love for THIS man, there rang deep inside of her a surge of the loss of the OTHER man she loved, and she would probably never know for sure, but she thought that perhaps, even in gaining the love of THIS man she had still lost the love of her life, even now. And that made her sad.

William took a deep breath, wondering. "Tell me about this 'love' you speak of?" he asked.

Julia had lingered her fingers on the wound she had made in his flesh. She propped herself up on an elbow and looked down into his face. He was so opened. She found her fingers traveling the bulges of his chest as she explained, "It's an amazing, unbelievable warmth that you feel, in your chest…"

William took her hand and placed it to his heart, and said, "Here?" while his sparkling brown eyes held fast to hers.

She nodded, and smiled.

He went on, "It makes you feel both week and strong at the same time, like your floating and sinking, like an impossible feeling, but very good?"

"Yes," she answered.

"I feel it too," he said.

"I know," she replied.

Hunger for him throbbed inside her. She kissed him, the intensity, the heat, rising between them blazingly once more. Before they would make love again, Julia _encouraged_ him to slow down, asking if he could make it last longer, to wait for her, before he surged on to the finish. He understood, remembering the few moments after ecstasy had stolen him that first time, and she had continued on, pumping against him, then rippling so delectably around him, after he had stilled. He accomplished the goal this second time brilliantly, for William Murdoch was nothing but a fast learner.

) (

Unable to believe his luck, Clegg had given into some of his own earthly desires while watching the couple the second time, having had barely replaced the buttons of his trousers when Master George had burst in complaining that his incompetent servants had lost the creature. Clegg rolled his eyes with relief for having not been caught with his pants down, after Crabtree left. The American spy had not given Murdochy's location away. He felt he owed the beast that much at least. It was only a matter of time, however.

) (

William had fallen asleep. Julia lie next to him pondering the fact that it would be the first time he had ever slept in his short and crazy life. In the luminous glow of the moonlit room, she admired his body. " _True,_ " she thought, " _maybe she would prefer a bit less muscle. But he was exquisite."_ Thoughts of the other William drifted in her background. She hunted for any evidence of past wounds in _this_ William's flesh – an arrow just below the heart, a bullet in his left deltoid, finding none. The lack only magnified in her mind the fact that _this_ William had no experiences. He had no mother, for instance, or sister. He had never been taught math, or science, or poetry by the Jesuits. " _How can he ever be William without William's experiences?_ " she asked herself.

Her own answer cam – _she thought_ _ **not**_. The grieving thought hit her tremendously hard, tears instantly pooling in her eyes and her heart drowning away in them. She tried to stifle any sounds her sobs would make. She didn't want to wake him. He wouldn't understand. " _This place is so odd_ ," she reminded.

Julia snuck out from under the covers, dressed herself in her skimpy corset and bloomers – she left the stockings and heels, considering them useless. Out in the darkened hall, she found herself longing to be under the stars, breathe in fresh air. She would look for a way out.

Gratefully, she found one. A window, in a room she did not know, the one the master had deemed The Zen Room, through which she had crawled out. Inside that same room, Meyers and magenta-haired Nina Bloom seemed to be engaging in after-sex talk. There was certainly no doubt that Master George had called it right when he said he was a, "sweet book-writer from _libido-magic mania_."

Julia giggled, recognizing that she herself had given in to her libidinous urges in this place – _twice_ , with William of all things. _Amazing, just amazing_. She looked at the stars twinkling in the sky, and tears took her again. " _Not really, William_ ," she reminded herself, " _Not really_."

She feared she would never see _that_ William, her William, again. But she had _this_ one, and she was quite enamored with him, all the same. Flashes, sparked through her mind – _were they memories?_ she wondered. They felt that way, _but wasn't that impossible?_ She saw William, so beautiful wearing only his pajama bottoms, with their infant son in his arms, the naked skin of the tiny baby gliding along William's bare chest – and he was singing, his voice touching her soul, as she watched unseen, as his lips grazed across the sweet-smelling hair of the baby boy in his arms. The next memory invaded, fading in, from after, _or was it before_ , the one with their child. This image began with her standing in front of a tapestry of a red, five-clawed dragon. She felt intoxicated, floaty, high, and William – _My God_ , he was her husband! – he stepped up behind her, began to nuzzle and kiss her neck, and her insides melted and twisted and tweaked in hungry response to his touch, his warmth… _How could these things be? She was to marry Darcy!_ _ **She was sterile**_ _!_ She felt terribly lost, terribly lost, the unfeasible feelings rendering her nauseous.

Suddenly, Alan Clegg was standing before her. His mannerisms seemed… off. He lit a cigarette, offered her one. _Creepy_ , she thought.

He walked around behind her, and then leaned down so that his slimy voice was in her ear. "You found it quite - pleasurable – Mmm? - so soft so - sensual…"

"Ahh - no - stop - I mean - I - _Darcy_ \- Ohhh – _Darcy_ ," Julia's words seemed to leak out with the horrifying thought that Clegg would surely tell her betrothed about what he seemed to know… about her having had made love with William – twice.

Clegg slid his slithery hands around her waist. "Shh. _Dr. Garland's_ probably asleep by now. He needn't know. And it was an enjoyable experience was it not?" Clegg's hands slinked up her body, cupped her breasts through the corset. "You did like it, didn't you? There's no crime in giving yourself over to pleasure - is there? We could try for an action replay…"

Now, this was intolerable as far as Julia was concerned. She was working though, to control her rage. She was fairly sure she didn't want to kill Alan Clegg…

Julia grabbed a hold of Clegg's hands and pulled them off of her body. "Mr. Clegg," she started, her tone again strong and confident, "I do not want to insult an important neighbor from our south, but I do insist…" She stood and turned around, shoving him back a step. "That you keep your hands to yourself. Now, I believe that whatever William and I do in the priv…"

"William?" Clegg leaned forward and then chuckled, "William!? You call him William! He is a monster, a creature, nothing more than a savage beast… And what does that say about you, doctor?" he leered.

Boiling, at his insults, first to William and then to her, she blew. Dr. Julia Ogden's hand slapped fast and fierce with a ' _crack'_ across Clegg's cheek. "How dare you judge, you… piss ant! You get your disgusting kicks, sneaking around and peeking in on others." She stepped back and worked to calm herself down.

"Now," Julia straightened what little of her corset her hands could find, with a huff, "Mr. Clegg, I insist that you desist from your… voyeurism. And as far as Darcy is concerned, I have every intention of telling him that I love William and I will not be marrying him."

"Well that is somewhat fortunate for you then," Clegg glared at her like the cat that ate the canary.

"Why?" she demanded, "What do you know?"

That's when Alan Clegg informed Dr. Ogden that her very own toff-doctor fiancé had had… " _relations_ ," with none other than that vile, nasty Riff-Raff Higgins. "Although, of course, he was tricked into it, Riff-Raff Higgins sneaking into his room in the dead of night under the guise of being you, the helpless little woman so delicate and frightened in this dreadful, scary castle," Clegg reveled in disclosing the dirty truth of it all.

Before Julia had had a chance to reflect on the conflicting feelings swirling around inside of her, Columbia-professor Emily Grace, dashed out from the castle and swept them up in her whirlwind of panic. It seemed that the creature had escaped! And Master George was furious! And heads were sure to roll! Most likely Riff-Raff Higgins' head, she figured. She warned that the master had armed the men with tranquilizer guns and they were out hunting the creature at this very moment. No one was safe, and the master insisted all the doors and windows in the castle be locked shut. "All hands on deck! All hands on deck!" she insisted.

) (

Motivated to find William before anyone else did, Julia considered the most likely places he would go to hide. Instantly, she knew he would be inside the lab-room, most likely hidden in the white box!

Lifting the lid of the box, she noticed the load lighten as he added his muscle, from inside the box, to the task. He lay back down inside the roomy box and said, "Oh! It's you - look I'm trying to hide from my creator and his minion – they scare me _-_ I feel that all is not well here. I have been thinking a lot about – _all this sex and libido and everything_ … I have a feeling of foreboding."

Agreeing, but finding that once again her insides were declaring their lustful want for him – _for there was surely something insanely pleasure-seeking about this place_ , she said, "It's all like some terrible dream."

His eyes tracked hers as they perused the course of his body. "Is it true you don't like men with too many muscles?" he asked, doubting it, so wrinkling up his face.

She so adored this expression of William's, she noticed that once again her heart had leapt back to this _other_ man, who she was not engaged to. " Well..." she started to answer him about his muscles. But her mind offered up Clegg, and the awareness that she had been unfaithful to Darcy, and hadn't yet told her betrothed that she intended to call off their wedding. "I'm engaged to _Darcy_. But your kisses overwhelmed me with an ecstasy I had never dreamed of before - hot burning kisses. My mind screamed - No! - but my lips were hungry, too hungry - I wanted to be loved, and loved completely - my body throbbed excitedly…

Unbeknownst to William or Julia, Magenta-haired Nina Bloom and Columbia-professor Emily Grace had entered the back of the lab-room behind the bleachers. Sent to hunt for the creature and shoot him on sight with the tranquilizer gun, they quickly ducked out of view and turned to face each other, their eyes bugging gleefully with their good fortune. Placing the guns down on the floor, they each fondled the other and whispered together, "Tell us about it _Julia_." Oh, this had the potential to get quite good – the creature had 'loved her completely' once before (twice really). They were pretty sure he was about to give in to his beastly _urges_ once more.

Julia stroked William's pectoral muscles, savoring in the firm, warm bulges of his flesh. "I've tasted blood and I want more…"

Magenta and Columbia leaned forward, their insides tightened with voyeuristic yearnings, whispering together, "More, more, more."

Julia climbed into the box, lay down on top of him. She kissed the bitten spot in front of his ear, tingling his flesh with memory, her sultry voice in his ear, "I'll put up no resistance. I want to stay the distance. I've got an itch…" she nearly sung with desperation and hunger, her fingers slipped under the string of his loincloth, "…to scratch, and I need assistance…"

William's breath halted with her touch, and a smile grew on her face as she felt his jaw clench tight, fighting it, fighting it so hard.

Julia paused, her last defense falling as she felt him jolt upright in her hand, surging powerful, strong. Uncontrollably, her hips swung into motion, planting her most sensitive, hot, thirsty, drenched spot, rhythmically, primaly, into, into, into, his thigh. Her pace rushed as she sang, "Touch-a touch-a touch me. I want to be dirty. Thrill me, chill me, fulfill me, creature of the night."

Relentlessly, Julia's breathless voice sang softly over him, as she stroked him within her hand under the loincloth, up and down, up and down, "Then if anything grows when you pose, I'll oil you up and rub you down…"

Salivating back under the bleachers, Magenta-haired Nina Bloom and Columbia-professor Emily Grace couldn't believe their luck, gleefully whispering together, with enticing sexual rhythm they rubbed against each other, "Down, down, down."

Underneath her, William had been entertaining the definition of " _encouragement"_ in his mind, but the thoughts had swum away long ago. The most spectacular woman in all the world was… _**ON him**_. He had to get closer, smell her deeply, taste her… feel her malleable flesh once more in his hands, press and mold her softness tighter to his body. Both hands cupped her pendulous breasts, so swollen and pink, the creamy orbs bulging deliciously out of the top of her corset just above him. He watched, entranced, as he pushed and pressed her breasts together, exquisite, beyond exquisite, his thumbs slipped back and forth over her erect, pink nipples poking up yet yielding, bending over, with his touch. His mouth watered. His hands wrapped firmly, roughly, behind her, and he pulled her down to him, smothering himself within her plush, spongy cleavage. Wide, he opened his mouth wide and ravaged and sucked her in, his hot breath raging out of him in wild bursts.

Dizzy with intoxicating lust, Julia whispered, as she swung a leg over him and straddled him, "And that's just one small fraction of the main attraction. You need a friendly hand…" She held his tip and sank downward, moaning with the first slippery wet touch, then dropping heavier around him, pressing down, him imploding up, sliding in, tight and hot, she rode him hard as she added, "And I need action. Touch-a, touch-a touch me. I want to be dirty. Thrill me, chill me, fulfill me, creature of the night."

From below her William asked, "Julia, it only seems fair that a woman should _also_ have to ask a man's permission – when it comes to _urges_ , I mean?"

The pleasure of feeling him so close to her one perfect spot, filling her deeply, rendered it challenging for her to reply, and it took a special effort, but she managed to say, "Yes, I suppose. Sorry," with a little conciliatory giggle.

He caught her rhythm from below, wave after wave growing higher, he said, "All the same, I feel I must ask your permission."

" _Oh my God, this man has my permission to do anything, anything he wants,_ " she thought somewhere inside her soupy mind. "Wh…"

Kaleidoscopes spinning, her world suddenly flipped! William had rolled her over, trapped her underneath him inside the box. He hammered and hammered and hammered into her with all his might… for he had every intention of touch-a, touch-a, touch-ing her in that one perfect spot…

The crescendo built so quickly, so fiercely. William grunted and grunted with each thrust, wrenching her insides tighter and tighter, excruciating the torque more and more with each thrust. _**He**_ was close now, very close…

"Slower William. Wait for me," her raspy, desperate voice steamed from below.

Hearing her beckon from within the thunderous rolling waves of the storm, he answered her plea, "Forever, I'd wait for you forever, Julia," he promised, reminding himself to maintain the force for her, but to hold steady. Thoughts, just momentarily, of chimps, and bonobos, and sonic transducers, and galaxies and stars, slowed him.

Listen… Listen… for the silence, just before, when she hovers over her edge.

Then, a feverishly faint moan kissed around his ear. Her plunge would begin! _Catch her! Catch her!_ William rushed, surged, pounded forward with abandon, the fuse had been lit, and they rode the sparkling flame together along its rapid twists and turns, from unfathomable, breathtaking heights, towards the powder keg…

Arrival hit. _**BOOMED with Delight!**_ Engulfed them, inundated them, submerged them in ecstatic elation, hot, and flowing, and sweet – washing over them, flooding through them, rippling and pleasuring every inch, as they drowned together, erupting and swirling into oblivion in each other's moans, in each other's arms, in each other's hearts. Settling, landing, ground below them…

…The world still spinning around their stillness, William whispered, incredulous, "How can such an enormous feeling exist inside of me, so that I must burst with agony and heaven – how is it possible that I can love you so much?"

Weakened beyond reply, air from within her reached out to him, "William…"

He kissed her hot, delicious, exhausted face underneath him.

"William…" and the tears came.

And he kissed her salty essence more, and more.

Her body shook in his arms, and even though he knew without asking her, although he would never know how, he knew these were good tears. And he kissed them away. And he was happy.

But then suddenly, the lab-room's bright lights flickered on narrowing their soft, blackened pupils, and their peace was disrupted with harried voices and rattling footsteps, and tranquilizer guns metallically clanking and cocking.

Riff-Raff Higgins ran into the center of the room, first spotting magenta-haired Nina Bloom and Emily Grace near the bleachers, then noticing their eyes dart to the closed white box. Immediately behind him, in came Master George, furious and rageful, and on his heels, Meyers and Clegg and Pendrick.

Inside the box, Julia held her hand over William's mouth, for the creature was not yet familiar with the game of hide and seek. However, they both jumped with the sound…

 _SNAP! Crack! Crack_ , Master George's whip broke the sound barrier with each flick.

Anticipating the master's wrath, Riff-Raff Higgins begged, "Aaaggghhh! Mercy, Master!"

Julia slowly, quietly reached down to slip back into her bloomers. Her eyes signaled William to retie the string of his loincloth.

Master George's voice changed, desperate, choked-up threatening to break into tears, he yelled, "How did it happen - I understood you were to be watching."

Huddled in a puddle on the floor, Riff-raff Higgins sniveled, "I was only away for a moment, Master…" a sigh of relief escaping as the master's attentions turned to Nina Bloom fiddling with the television monitors.

"Of course!" Master George exclaimed, "See if you can find him on the monitor. Oh Magenta. Oh _Murdochy_. Oh _Murdochy_. Oh _Murdochy_."

Miss Bloom clicked through the monitors. Most rooms were empty.

A gasp from all, the monitor in Darcy's room revealed that a murder had occurred. Dr. Darcy Garland lay with a bullet hole in the center of his forehead, flat out across his bed.

Never lacking in dramatics, Master George suddenly felt as if his corset were strung too tight. "I think I'm going to…" he declared franticly.

"Faint," Riff-Raff Higgins finished his sentence smugly, as Meyers and Clegg caught the dropping master.

Meyers, his cigar shoved quickly into his mouth to free his hands for the incoming catch, claimed authoritatively, "A murder – I would expect nothing else with Murdoch here."

Annoyed Clegg replied, " _That_ creature is NOT Murdoch. And I have reason to believe that he won't be very motivated to pursue the killer anyway," he added, again with a 'cat-ate-the-canary' grin.

"Murdoch always wants to pursue the killer," Pendrick said, knowing from personal experience.

"Not if the murderer is Dr. Ogden," Clegg trumpeted, pleased with the shock it would cause.

Hidden away in the trunk, Julia's heart pounded with panic, and despair. _Darcy was dead. It was all her fault. She was the one who brought him here to Toronto… And now they think she killed him!_

"Don't worry Julia," William whispered. "We will get the real killer, you'll see," he scooped her into his arms, "Together, we're stronger than anyone."

Shock surged as the lid of the box flung open with a bang. Accepting their fate, William and Julia stood up, their hands above their heads.

All around them, from all sides, tranquilizer guns cocked…


	5. Chapter 5: Gills, Goodbyes & Butterflies

Murdochy Horror Picture Show_5_Gills, Goodbyes & Butterflies

" _It was James Pendrick who had talked the Master out of tranquilizing Murdochy_ ," Author George's narrator voice filled the small Planning Room from above. Murdochy worked alone at the worktable tirelessly completing the calculations needed to navigate the parabolic time differentials to be used in the sonic transducer to return his master and his master's people to their homeplace – although he really knew it, now, to be more of a home _ **time**_ – of "libido-magic mania."

It had been difficult for him to concentrate at first, for Julia had been captured and held prisoner by the group, as both the suspected murderer of her fiancé, Dr. Darcy Garland, and an enemy spy. Pendrick and Meyers had set out to prove her innocence, of being the murderer at least, reassuring the creature that they would see to it that the master did not harm her. They were acting as her defense at the trial.

Unfortunately, Alan Clegg had claimed to know of Dr. Ogden's motive – her love for Murdochy and desire to be freed of Dr. Garland because of this same love. Worse, Riff-Raff Higgins and magenta-haired Miss Bloom, as well as the reluctant witness, Columbia-professor Dr. Grace, had all supported the prosecution's claim that Dr. Ogden was seen entering Dr. Garland's room. It was Clegg who was acting as the prosecution, stressing that the murder of Dr. Garland guaranteed that their time to escape from their enemies was short, the violence of the crime indicating there was already an invader among them, for their kind was incapable of such brutality.

Author George's narrator voice forebode, _"And yet, it was this same James Pendrick who had saved Murdochy whom Murdochy himself would soon threaten within inches of his life…"_

) (

Riff-Raff Higgins escorted Dr. Ogden back to the Planning Room. Murdochy's eyes were drawn to the door as it opened, his chest visibly rising and then sinking in relief with the sight of Julia standing there. Her hair was down now, and he paused, stunned by her beauty.

"William," she said simply.

"Are you alright, Julia?" he asked, concerned.

"I am," she answered with a nod.

Riff-Raff Higgins stepped into the room behind her and said, "Get to work doctor. Time is of the essence. We need to know the nature of our enemies… and ourselves, if we are to navigate our future."

"Of course," Julia replied, hurrying over to the desk and taking out the books on ape evolution. She reached up and began to braid her hair to keep it out of her way. Both Murdochy and Riff-Raff Higgins noticed, the sight surging lustful throbbings in their groins, as lifting her arms above her head so had brought her breasts higher above the boundary of her corset, and the edges of her luscious pink nipples had poked out into view. The doctor's eyes down on the text, she had not noticed the facial expressions of the men.

Holding his tranquilizer gun up threateningly, Riff-Raff Higgins barked an order at Murdochy, "You get back to crunching the numbers!" Murdochy did not oblige him and he aimed the gun directly at the creature. "Now," he ordered, teeth gritted in threat.

Worried, William glanced over at Julia. Moving too slow to satisfy Riff-Raff Higgins, the hard, cold metal of the gun was suddenly shoved against his jugular. William's big brown eyes narrowed as they glared straight at Riff-Raff Higgins. He swallowed, the motion shifting the gun ever so slightly, up and then back down, in Riff-Raff's hand. "You will be leaving," the muscly creature challenged plainly.

Riff-Raff Higgins felt a chill run down his spine. He reminded himself that Murdochy was not one of his kind, but rather the creature had been made from a cell of a man from another group of humans. There had always been a danger that the creature would be… violent. The look from him now solidified that point for Riff-Raff Higgins. Responding to conflict, in this case clearly over both men lusting after the voluptuous Dr. Ogden, Higgins reacted instinctively, as his genes led him to do. He flirted with the creature, sliding his gun-free hand along the impressive rippling muscles of his naked chest and whispered, "Now, now handsome one. We can both have a drink from the well."

William stood, ignoring the gun in his neck. His eyes never left those of the slimy man.

A gasp from Julia registered in William's mind. In his periphery he saw her turn and watch. Urges ravaged through him, clenching his jaw – and his fists. Different urges than before, but seemingly related. For somehow he knew Riff-Raff Higgins intended to… touch… Julia. And that knowledge infuriated him beyond belief. And now he wanted to wring the little creep's neck!

Terrified, Riff-Raff Higgins began to back towards the door, William keeping his eyes, his massive chest, within inches of the man's retreat. "You'll be leaving Doctor Ogden to do her work now," William's firm voice instructed, "And if you come back, I will take this little gun out of your hands and I will deal with you."

Groveling, Riff-Raff Higgins defended, "Murdochy, I was simply suggesting we both enjoy her…"

The volume amped up and Higgins' tremoring did as well as William threatened, "Did you not hear me? Goodbye, Mr. Higgins."

Bumping and knocking into various pieces of equipment as he flew backwards out of the Planning Room, Riff-Raff Higgins fled. William turned around to see Julia across the room.

" _Unbelievable,_ " she thought to herself as she wallowed in the lovely feelings flowing and charging inside of her. She realized now that this William felt jealousy, and although it did not make rational sense to her, it clearly excited her and made her amazingly happy. She stood and walked to him. _Oh, she had to touch!_ Her fingers rubbed up his pectoral muscles as she told him, "William! I must say, that was most surprising. And more than a little impressive."

Her admiration puffed his chest up even more as it filled so exquisitely with pride and another sense, and unnamable one… possibly ownership? Whatever it was, he knew she was his, and it felt good. "Sometimes one must employ the law of the jungle," he said.

Interestingly, Julia was quite certain that she wanted to make love with him right there and then. However, William had been reminded of the urgency of their… of his master's, situation. Maintaining control over his sexual urges, for most certainly they were surging, he changed the subject, taking a hold of her hands and pulling them tenderly off of his flesh, he said, "Speaking of the jungle… didn't bonobos evolve in the jungle while chimpanzees and humans moved out onto the savannah?"

The disappointment on Julia's face was palpable. _Yet, she knew he was right. There was an enemy somewhere in the castle, and others were certainly close at hand. They had to solve all the puzzles quickly, it was true. And, he was correct about the environments the two different species had had to adapt to, and that would influence their instinctive behaviors…_

She yielded to her rational mind and stepped back. "Yes, William," she replied, finding the hardest thing was pulling her eyes away from his, "environment shapes adaptation." She returned to the desk, he to the worktable, and each picked up the work at hand. Julia's mind marveled though, for this lustful creature had changed, or maybe just grown. And he was William-like even more so than she had thought. _"More possessive certainly,"_ she acknowledged, _"and muscly,"_ she thought to herself with a raised eyebrow and a repressed giggle, " _but self-controlled, and focused on helping those around him. He has William's heart, somehow…"_ Her spirit soared with it. " _Concentrate Julia, concentrate,_ " she worked to do what needed to be done.

) (

Outside, near the RKO radio tower, Master George and Columbia-professor Emily Grace checked the shore of the river for tracks. The enemy invader had most likely used the river to infiltrate their lines, and it was here they would likely find evidence and clues. As they suspected, there were footprints from the river to the house. But there was no sign that a boat, or any other type of vehicle for that matter, had been used. The river was much too rapid and wild for anyone to survive swimming in, pulling anybody down under its depths within seconds. Truth be told, the impossibility of it frightened both of them – their enemy was superhuman, it seemed.

) (

 _From up above the Planning Room, Author George observed William and Julia excitedly sharing their discoveries. Unbeknownst to them, there was a_ _ **Lurker**_ _watching through the door that was ajar…_

William had completed the mathematics, but was waiting on Julia's results for the final setting of coordinates. Julia held his big brown eyes and basked in the glow of his excitement as he explained that he had, "…used the different isolines on the star map to figure out the targets for each parabola. It would be the amount of pelvic thrust applied that would determine the vertex and the axis of symmetry of each parabola, but the latus rectum…"

Julia ducked her chin down and gave him a look…

Recognizing she was not keeping up, William hesitated, a gorgeous smile and a hint of embarrassment blushed his face. He went back to his point, "The x-intercepts, um, have to be the numbers from the star map, representing ages in time – it's these values that will constitute the step to the left and the jump to the right for each parabola."

He found himself romantically drawn to her beautiful face, her oceanic blue eyes, pushing himself to remember to listen to her words while his heart ran off…

Julia said, "So that's the significance of this… Time Warp song, and dance, then. It is how they travel through this… other dimension?"

William nodded, "I believe so, that and the proximity to the signal." He leaned forward on his stool, towards her and said, "But I need your work, on the evolution, to figure out…"

Suddenly, the _**Lurke**_ r, none other than James Pendrick, burst through the Planning Room door. He had been fighting his _urges_ , but had failed, for he too had become highly aroused by having seen that Murdochy creature _**sniff**_ **and almost ravage** the lovely Dr. Ogden, and since then his mind could do little else than imagine having his way with her. He strutted right over to Julia. Her surprise only invigorated his urges further.

"Oooh! Aren't you lovely?" Pendrick declared before taking her aggressively into a passionate kiss.

Certain that he had thoroughly wooed her… And neither he nor the good doctor noticing that William had become red with rage… he released her suddenly and sought her reaction.

"I've had better," Julia stated matter-of-factly.

"Well then, I will have to do better," Pendrick replied, grabbing her once more, molding his body into her scrumptious curves and pumping against her lewdly while his tongue dove into her mouth.

It happened so quickly, the beast inside of William took him over. Julia felt her own body thrust across the room as Pendrick was jerked away from her. A humungous **THUD** pounded from the wall as Murdochy slammed Pendrick against it.

Shocked, Julia screamed.

Pendrick struggled under the creature's muscles, wiggling, kicking, punching, the banging reverberations sounding out in the hallway. There, Master George and Columbia-professor Emily Grace, after a brief sexual interlude to relieve the tensions triggered by their frightening discovery, had gathered the others, the larger group headed to report their findings of the proof of an invader. The ominous, screaming and pounding and grunting coming from up ahead startled the group into a run.

"William, let him go. Please!" Julia pleaded as the group gasped at the sight.

Immediately, Master George, Riff-Raff Higgins and Alan Clegg along with Mr. Meyers attached themselves to various body parts of the creature and tried to pull him off of the _**Lurker**_ , James Pendrick. They met with little success, only accomplishing saving the man when the three women joined in the struggle as well.

Basically unharmed, but nearly deprived of oxygen so out of breath, Pendrick steamed, "That savage attacked me! I was merely sharing the pleasures of the flesh with Dr. Ogden. Then out of nowhere this… ANIMAL attacked me!" he screamed.

Clegg grabbed a tranquilizer gun and aimed at Murdochy.

"No!" Julia yelled, stepping in between the gun and William. "You have to understand," she pleaded, "He's not one of you! Neither am I." The tension lowered in the room. Julia went on, "You made Willi… Murdochy," she turned to Master George, "from a cell from a man who is from _this_ time – where we are right now… At least I think," she added, for the whole _time-thing_ was completely kablooey in this place.

Clegg lowered the gun.

"That man, who Master George took the cell from, he was not from the same time as all of you, well, most of you. I'm not quite sure about Meyers and Clegg, although _your_ behavior just now," she added as she glanced at Pendrick, "makes me suspicious you are one of them…" the doctor explained, finding there was so much to say it was hard to stay with her point, and certain she was not being clear, she tried to slow down. "You see," she forced herself to stick to the evolutionary facts, solidifying her points by lifting one of the texts, "It seems that you are from a place…"

William interrupted, "Not so much a place, you are from _this_ _place_ , but from a much different _time_." His voice was calm, rational, his thinking once again in charge of his being.

Nodding back at him, Julia was thrilled by his interjection, for it meant he likely understood. "It seems that at some time in the future, from here where we are right now, which is on Earth in 1899, the dominant species – humans – consisted of individuals whose genes mostly came from ancestors who were chimp-like, thus they were tribal. They saw the world as a competition between 'us' and 'them' and they solved conflicts with aggression and violence. Being human, there was a tendency towards monogamy in reproduction, but all were driven to mate beyond the monogamous bond when resources were abundant," she lectured.

Julia placed the book back down on the desk, adjusting her corset to better cover her nipples, for the _lurker_ had turned it askew. "There were, however, small pockets of people who reproduced somewhat separately from the vast majority, thus functioning as a type of island evolution, living in isolated hippie-like camps with ample resources, and making love with… well everyone in their group, quite often, a sort of 'freelove' I suppose. These people had an overrepresentation of bonobo-like genes from their ancestors. You evolved from them. William and I, I mean the man you took Murdochy's cell from and I, evolved from the former group," she said.

"Then you two are our enemies!?" questioned Columbia-professor Dr. Grace.

Julia looked at William with concern, admitting such a thing could put them both in danger. "Actually, I don't think so," she said. A sigh of relief spilled into the room from all sides. "I believe our descendants went extinct. Their wars resulted in mass extinctions… I mean _**will**_ result in mass extinctions and global warming, and a great flood…" she said, then paused. She looked back at Master George and concluded, "Your people are likely the only human survivors from that time."

"Then who are our enemies?" magenta-haired Nina Bloom asked.

"I'm not sure," the doctor answered.

Columbia-professor Dr. Emily Grace lit up, drawing in oxygen with her excitement. "Well, we know they walk like we do, for the invader left footprints from the river. Perhaps there were a few of your kind who survived, but they adapted to the destroyed world, and changed, becoming even more vile and awful and horrid," she claimed.

William swallowed, feeling insulted by her descriptions combining them with the word "more" suggesting that he and Julia were seen by this group as being these things to a lesser degree. He looked at Julia and asked, "Could these adaptations account for such drastic changes in so short a time?'

"Actually William," she answered, her eyes dropping to the books on her desk. "I don't think it was a short time. You'll need to know that for your parabolic calculations. I think it was a very, very long time," she concluded.

The Columbia professor thought she had a clue. "Dr. Ogden," she asked, "As an expert in biology, do you think that such humans could have evolved a way to swim? I mean you mentioned a great flood, from the melting ice of the global warming. The invader most likely swam here – in an unsurvivable river."

Julia considered the possibilities. "They could have evolved _**GILLS**_ ," she figured, explaining, "Human embryos go through a stage in which they have gills. Perhaps a mutation allowed for some individuals with gills to keep the adaptation throughout fetal development. Such a feature would have resulted in superior survival in a flooded world and the numbers of people with gills would have increased," she looked to William, "exponentially, I would expect."

He nodded.

Abruptly, an alarm sounded, drawing the attention of everyone to the blinking red light next to a television monitor over by the door. Riff-Raff Higgins rushed to fiddle with the monitor. "Master – we have a visitor," he said.

Master George rushed over and peered down at the screen. Julia too, saw the man in the image. It appeared to be Inspector Brackenreid, but he was in a wheel chair. And her mind warped, for she also recognized the man as her ex-mentor and friend, Professor Brackenreid. " _How could this one man be both people?_ " she wondered. She was pulled out of her ponderings when Master George startled all present with his cursing.

"Oh shit," the corset-wearing master exclaimed.

Julia blurted out – without thinking – the nickname of her mentor, Professor Brackenreid, clearly having already forgotten that she had ever recognized him as the Inspector, using the nickname he had received sarcastically, as a reflection of his unseemly manners, "Prince **Charming**!"

Much to her surprise, Pendrick, aka the _Lurker_ , must have also recognized the man, because he called out a nickname for him as well, "Tommy **TwoCakes**!"

Then suddenly, being hurled out of the blue, everyone in the room began to be pelted by the strangest of objects. Rolls and rolls of _**Charmin**_ **Toilet Paper** and packages and packages of _Hostess_ **Cupcakes** (two cakes per package) flew through the air, some making stinging contact with one person or another on their route to the floor. People shielded themselves from the incoming barrage with their hands extending out protectively in front of them and ducking and diving for cover. William rushed to protect Julia from the onslaught, scooping her into his big, strong arms.

Quickly, the supplies of toilet paper and cupcakes seemed to run out and the room quieted down. Annoyed, for he was certain it was due to the nickname-callers that the odd attack had been brought on, Riff-Raff Higgins questioned Julia, who was still encircled in William's arms, "You know this earthl…"

…Master George nudged against Riff-Raff Higgins' arm and glared at him, stopping the servant from completing his sentence.

Adjusting, the slimy man said, "This person."

"Yes, I do. He's an old friend of mine," Julia stated.

William pulled her closer as he observed the suspicious glare of the master grow more and more dangerous.

"I see - so this wasn't simply a chance meeting - you came here _**with a purpose**_ ," Master George challenged.

Her expression becoming worried, for she had already been held and tried as a murderer and an enemy invader, Julia answered defensively, grateful William was with her, "That's not true - our carriage broke down - I told you."

Suspiciously, watching her reactions, Master George said, "I know what you told me, _Julia_ \- but this Brackenreid, his name is not unknown to me."

Finding that the words poured out of her without forethought, Julia rushed to explain, "He was a science teacher at Denton High." Immediately she looked at William and shrugged. She had never gone to such a school. She had no idea what she was saying, seemingly swept away in this strange time warp once more.

Master George disclosed further, "And now he works for your Government - doesn't he, _Dr. Ogden_? He's attached to the bureau of the investigation of that which you call UFO's - that's right, isn't it, _doctor_?

Uttering only truths, Julia replied, "He might be - I don't know!"

Stopping the master's interrogation, the panicked voice of Riff-Raff Higgins' rung out, "The intruder is entering the building, Master!"

Master George huddled over the monitor. "Ah, he's in the Zen room. Seal off all exits - and all doors - except for those that lead to the showroom. I think we should make this a social occasion. We shall be entertained with a floorshow - which I shall direct," he decreed before all filed out of the Planning Room. Magenta-haired Miss Bloom and Riff-Raff Higgins lagged behind, celebrating the good news with each other, for the announcement of the floorshow meant that their return home would be soon.

) (

 _Author George's voice filtered down from the ceiling above the lab-room as Riff-Raff Higgins, down below, grunted and groaned with the effort of pushing the white box out of the center of the room. Taking pity on him, Murdochy pushed the box the rest of the way with ease._

 _Brackenreid, in his wheelchair, was rolled into the room by Columbia-professor Dr. Grace. It seemed the audience had re-filled the bleachers, for conversations could be heard mumbling from that side of the room._

Master George, strutting across the room in his fishnet stockings and heels, rose a hand and cleared his throat, silencing them. "Don't play games, Professor Brackenreid – or should I say, Prince **Charming** , galloping in on your wheeled steed to save the day…"

 _Oddly, the utterance seemed to prompt toilet paper rolls to fly through the air once more. One roll hit Master George in the back of his head. He turned to the bleachers and glared. Stillness and silence ensued._

Working to regain his composure, the master took a deep breath and then continued, directing his questions at Brackenreid, "It was part of your plan, was it not, that _James Pendrick_ and his female coconspirator…" the master stared at Julia, "should check the layout for you - unfortunately for you, there is to be a change of plans…" he threatened.

Brackenreid bellowed, "Bloody hell, you tosser!" He wheeled over to one of the lab-tables, lifting various beakers and flasks, taking a whiff of each, searching for some bloody scotch. "Crabtree, I can assure you that _Pendrick's and Dr. Ogden's_ presence here comes as a complete surprise to me. As does the set up you have here - I didn't expect it to be quite so…"

Smugly the master interrupted, "Sophisticated? And the title used to address me here is 'Master George.' In this place, much like the Masonic Lodge, I am your superior," he huffed.

Under his breath, for it did seem he was more at the bugger's mercy than he would have liked, Brackenreid grumbled, "Sod that bollocks." His face brightened a bit though, for his search had turned up some scotch after all.

The master turned his back and summoned his servants. Now less likely to be noticed, Pendrick leaned down to Brackenreid and whispered, "It sure is good to see you here." He showed Brackenreid a control panel of some sort and asked, "What do you think it is?"

William approached. He looked over Brackenreid's shoulder. Brackenreid inspected the complicated panel and said, "At this precise moment it's hard to tell - but it seems to be made of a metal that is not of this earth - I would say it was from another planet."

William said, "Not another planet, another dimension… or time…"

Brackenreid rushed to turn to see William's face, jumping practically out of his skin once he saw the man's face. "Murdoch!" he declared, "What in bloody hell are you doing here?"

Pendrick started to explain, "He's not actually Detective Murdoch…"

When there was the weirdest flip, a sort of warp in reality, and all went dark.

) (

Appearing as if on stage, one by one, the outsiders, Julia, Brackenreid, and Pendrick, became revealed by overhead spotlights as they called out.

The first voice to ring out of the darkness was Julia's, "My feet - there's something wrong with my feet."

Next was Thomas Brackenreid, "My wheels! My God! I can't move my wheels."

Followed by Pendrick's alarmed voice adding, "It's as if we're glued to the spot."

Peppering his response with a devilish laugh, the master said, "You are! So quake with fear you tiny fools." Master George turned to his minions to proclaim, "O.K. it's startime – Riff-Raff set the sonic transducer on program 8 secure all levels at zero," he barked out his orders.

Spooky, but seeming to try to reassure, magenta-haired Miss Bloom whispered, "Relax," in Julia's ear.

" _Where is William_?" she wondered. " _I so wish he were here… I hope he's alright!"_ a sudden fear flowed through her. " _What could they have done with him?_ " he worry swamped her.

Brackenreid's chest raged with fury. "You won't find earth people quite the easy mark that you imagine - this sonic transducer! It is, I suppose, some type of audio vibratory physiomolecular transport device!" he demanded.

With abundant strutting, Master George sashayed across the floor clicking his high heels to come stand directly in front of Brackenreid. "You'd better believe it, baby," he said, then flicking the frozen-in-place Brackenreid with his feather boa.

 _Oh, it was all making sense to Pendrick now! He had been recruited under false pretenses once again!_ Angry and alarmed, he seized Brackenreid's eyes and asked, " You mean…"

Knowing they had little time, Brackenreid interrupted, "Yes, it's something we ourselves have been working on. But it seems our friend here has found a way of perfecting it - a device that is capable of breaking down solid matter and then projecting it through space and who knows, perhaps even time itself."

Suddenly, for the first time really, Julia realized that perhaps what William had been working on was this machine! And not only were they going to use it to escape their enemies who were hunting them, but they might intend to use it to send her through the Time Warp Machine as well! Panicked, terrified, she called out, "You mean he's going to send us to another place… celestial?"

Brazenly, Master George stammered across the stage, "Celestial Schumestial - Julia… Let me school ya. I'd thought you'd quite come to like our ways. You certainly didn't hold back your lustful pursuits with my… creature…"

 _So many things ripped through Julia's mind. She refused to be ashamed of her lovemaking with William! Refused! It had been wonderful – and she loved him deeply, profoundly! But that didn't mean she wanted to go with this oversexed and lascivious bunch to some libido-magic mania place – certainly not! And besides all that… she remembered that William was missing…_

"What have you done with him!" she demanded, her hands planted firmly on her hips, her clenched jaw jutting out indignantly.

Unwilling to tolerate her outburst, Master George signaled for his servants. Magenta-haired Nina Bloom lowered a switch, releasing Julia's feet from the floor, only to be sprayed with a mist by Riff-Raff Higgins, which rendered her unconscious. The scraggly slime-ball carried her offstage.

Rallying to protect her, Brackenreid charged aggressively, although his wheels were still planted in place, so it resulted mostly in posturing, "You're a Hot Dog, but you'd better not try to hurt her, frank-furter. You're a weenie, don't be such a meanie, Crabtree-ie."

His gallant efforts only served to get him the same results, and he too was ordered to be sprayed unconscious and released from the floor and wheeled off, in this case by Columbia-professor Dr. Grace.

Only James Pendrick remained. Master George approached, daring him to join his other humans with his chivalry. Perhaps he wouldn't have otherwise, particularly as his feet were still glued to the ground, but he'd been quite taken by his sudden awakening to the sexy beauty within Dr. Julia Ogden, and he too refused to stand idly by while this… bonobo-gened monstrosity whisked her off to some libido-magic mania. He too shouted out his opposition, "You're a Hot Dog, but you'd better not try to hurt her, frank-furter. You're a weenie, don't be such a meanie, George Crabtree-ie."

" _The things I do for my creature_ ," Master George rolled his eyes and sighed at himself. _Perhaps keeping this outsider, no matter how much he suspected Murdochy might desire her, was not worth all the trouble._

Thus, it was not long before James Pendrick, aka the **Lurker** , was also rendered unconscious and taken offstage, their fates uncertain.

) (

The three earthlings slept in the background, dreaming of decadent lust, thanks to being sprayed with libido-magic pixie dust. Master George was tired, and still frightened, for their enemies were surely advancing as they spoke. His trusty servants awaited his commands. Although all were satisfied with the creature's work, now only mere minutes away from being able to dance the Time Warp and return to their home, there remained problems to be solved.

Plopping down on his throne, Master George sighed and said, "It's not easy having a good time - even smiling makes my face ache - and my creation has turned on me - Murdochy's behaving like a lovesick child - maybe I made a mistake in putting stallion testicles in the mix with the detective's genes."

Sickening of his incessant whining, magenta-haired Nina groaned, "When do we return to Libido-Magic Mania? - I grow weary of this world."

Being re-aroused by her enticingly curvy body, Master George reached out and stroked her hair, "My magenta-haired princess, I am indeed grateful to both you and your brother Riff-Raff _Higgins_. You have both served me well. Loyalty such as yours must be rewarded, and you will discover that when the mood takes me, I can be quite generous," he offered.

Ignoring his advances, an indication that this world was having an effect on them, she stated, "I ask for nothing, Master."

Her insolence, her lack of appropriate lustful response to his flirtations, infuriated him. He tossed her red hair away and hollered, "And you shall receive it **in abundance** \- come - our guests will be growing restless."

) (

Author George's narrator voice floated from above the stage as it dimmed, "And so, by some extraordinary coincidence - fate it seems had decided that Julia should keep that appointment with her and Darcy's friend Professor Brackenreid. But, it was to be in a situation which none of them could have possibly foreseen - And, just a few hours after announcing her engagement to another, not only had that other been killed, but both William and Julia had tasted forbidden fruit - This in itself was proof that their host was a man of little morals and some persuasion - What further indignities were they to be subjected to ...? And what of the sonic transducer and the enemies that had been spoken of? - What indeed? - From what had gone before it was clear that this was to be no picnic."

) (

The Time Warp Machine, powered by the sonic transducer, had been brought out onto the back lawn. In the predawn light, the RKO radio tower hovered ominously in the distance, and the roaring of the river's rapids could be heard from below it. Murdochy, unbothered by the chill in the air despite only wearing a loincloth, hurriedly adjusted the controls on the control panel, programming in the numbers he had calculated. Watching on, the master and his servants grew anxious.

"How much longer?" Riff-Raff Higgins complained, "We should start the floorshow."

Master George had been soaking in the view of his marvelous creature – his hero, so… handsome, and strong, and smart and brave. The creature stood, then approached.

"Master," Murdochy said, "There is only the third and final parabola to program in." He stopped, stood, waited.

"So, program it in!" the master barked. "Then we can begin our floorshow and blast-off for home," he explained his impatience.

"I will not," the creature said, firm and calm, resolved. He held the master's eyes. "I will not until I see that Julia is safe," he stated.

Master George rose from his throne and approached the creature. "Listen, I made you and I can break you just as easily," he threatened.

"Perhaps, but if you do, then you will not be able to use the Time Warp Machine," William raised a corner of his mouth, admitting he was using bribery.

Exasperated by it all, Master George sighed and then ordered that Dr. Ogden be brought to the back lawn at once.

William went back to the controls. He entered all but the last number. From his work-stool, he saw her approach. He lifted his head, and marveled and basked at the myriad of ways his body reacted to the sight of her.

"They agreed to leave us alone for a moment," Julia said with a quick glance behind her. She walked closer. William stood and waited until she stood directly in front of him. "When we came to in the Zen Room, Master George told us that you had negotiated on our behalf," she said.

"Yes," William responded proudly, "I told him I would not make the Time Warp Machine work if they did not promise that they would release you…" he nodded, his smile glistening, pulling every heart string she had, "Oh… and the other earthlings, that's what they call them, Brackenreid and Pendrick should have been freed too."

Unable to stop herself, Julia reached up and touched his face. Her smile, though beautiful, tugged at him, somehow different. Something about it – hurt.

Changing the subject, before he could ask her, before she gave in and asked him, for she did not want to face it, Julia asked, "And what of Meyers and Clegg?" Even though she knew she shouldn't, for it would make parting harder, she stepped even closer.

He put his hands on her hips, his body igniting to another atomic level with their touch. _More than lust…_ his mind threw up the noticing up, and it drifted away as he answered, "The master explained that everyone will be allowed to decide for themselves whether they will stay here to face the enemies, or go with him and his servants back to their home."

"I see," she answered. The pause was long and deep and she prepared to yield to his unspoken request, to explain her sadness, for she had already been told that he would be going with them to their home.

William, however, stopped her. His caress, tender, warm… devastating, his closed fingers tingling against her cheek, he traced her mouth with his thumb. "I want to see your smile again," he whispered, "What do I do to make you smile?"

Swallowing back her emotions, swirling and spinning inside. She was so close to tears when she whispered it out, "It's not possible… if you go."

"But…" he said, his head slowly beginning his unconscious objection, shaking its secret 'no.' William found he, too, needed to swallow, for there was an odd hotness, a swelling, suddenly, in his throat. "But, I have to go," he said, "I am _their_ hero… they will need me, to get home, and in the new time."

Failing to fight back the tears, Julia's eyes reddened, and sparkled as they pooled. And then there was that delightfully squeaky voice, that would always break his heart, and she scratched out, "But I need you too." With that it all collapsed, and her teardrops fell.

William caught the slippery liquid with his thumb. "I hurt when you cry," he said.

Oh, that did it, her heart ruptured, she loved him so. Her sobbing shook her and she fell into his chest, knowing he would hold her, if only for a little while. She would have to let him go. _My God_ , she was going to lose him again, the realization hit her hard, for with every fiber in her being she knew she could not go with him to this place, she just could not. And she believed he knew that too.

After a short time, she pulled back, feeling stronger. Upon looking into his face, she saw it, he was crying too. In all the world she had never seen anything more beautiful than William's big, chocolaty eyes filled with oceans of tears, pooled and shored-up by those long lashes. He saw her reaction. It prompted him to reach up and feel his own tears.

"You're crying too," she explained.

He appeared puzzled. "But heroes don't cry," he said.

Barely able to say it through both the pain and the love she replied, squeaky and soft, "The best ones do."

Master George marched over and interrupted, "Murdochy, you're needed."

William looked, for the last time, taking a deep breath and trying to hold the memory of her, knowing he needed to crystalize it for all of time into his soul, he looked for this final time at this remarkable woman. "I have to go," he said.

 _He couldn't know, Julia knew he couldn't possibly know, that he had uttered the exact same words as he had when her heart was breaking before, when she told him she was sterile, and he had to go save the world from Sally Pendrick's microwave death ray_.

She stepped away, made a valiant attempt at being strong. The smallest of nods, "Yes," she managed to say, before he mustered the strength to turn away from her and go with the master. Before she could change her mind, she turned back to leave.

) (

Finally, the time for the floorshow, essential for the blast-off, had come. The audience, standing unseen somehow off on the sides, would also be going through the Time Warp. A rose-tinted light flooded the area. Julia wondered if it was sunrise, _but it seemed not yet… or perhaps the red blinking light at the top of the RKO tower?_ But this rosy hue was consistent, and it attracted her to… well, everything, it seemed. It waxed around her, and everyone else seemed to be entranced by it as well. Many of them spontaneously burst into song.

Columbia-professor Dr. Emily Grace submitted to the temptation first. She sang out, "It was great when it all began. I was a regular _Georgie_ fan. But it was over when he had the plan to start working on a muscle-man. Now the only thing that gives me hope is that I still love the dope. Rose tints my world keeps me safe from my trouble and pain."

A gasp rang out, when the master's creature stepped forward to sing. Murdochy, gorgeous, rippling, somehow perfectly rigid and tender, his manly hunkiness now wrapped up in the satin and lace of a corset, fishnet stockings, and high-heels, struck as both incongruent and breathtaking, as he told, "I'm just seven hours old, truly beautiful to behold. And somebody should be told, my libido hasn't been controlled. Now the only thing I've come to trust is an orgasmic rush of lust. Rose tints my world, keeps me safe from my trouble and pain." Everyone saw it at the end of his song, however, everyone paused. The beast's heart was clearly broken, and where his gaze stopped, when he talked of coping with his trouble and pain, that look told the world why, for the creature looked to the female human. Seemed he had tried to reassure her that he would be alright. He would find a means to survive it, when he had gone away.

Alan Clegg, sleek and slow in his motions, his corset and stockings surprisingly apt, drew the worry that had surface when the creature's veil of strength had been lifting away, and he sang out his newfound story, "It's beyond me. Help me Mommy! I'll be good you'll see. Take this dream away. What's this?" he asked, his eyes dropping, studying his own groin. Once again he'd seen that beautiful Dr. Ogden, and her creature's arousing trance. He sang out the real truth now, the one he felt in his pants. He answered his own question, "Let's see, I feel sexy. What comes over me? Here it comes again…" Seemingly mesmerized by his heavenly feelings, Clegg danced off, his eyes staring, glassy and hungry, back at Julia as she started to sing.

Julia's corset had seen some hard times, now ripped and shredded, but it only made her more exhilarating as she gave in to the lure of the rosy light. She divulged, "I feel released. Bad times deceased…"

Shrouded voices gasped, for her fiancé had just been murdered after all – although she had been found innocent of the crime, but still, the culprit had yet to be found…

She sang on, "My confidence has increased. Reality is here. The game has been disbanded. My mind has been expanded. It's a gas that Master George has landed…

Racy, and raunchy, and wild, Master George's smutty figure stole the spotlight, as he draped himself across his throne. The rosy light burned intensely, making his voice dreamy as he sang, or was it whispered, or was it spoke, "Whatever happened to Fay Wray, that delicate Canadian beauty carried off by the beast King Kong. Oh, how I started to cry, for I wanted to be carried along." The master stood, drew his minions near. He advised them all, "Give yourself over to absolute pleasure. Swim the warm waters of the sins of the flesh. Erotic nightmares beyond any measure, and sensual daydreams to treasure forever. Can't you just see it?" His arms opened wide and _**all**_ fell into his song, wistfully, "Don't dream it – be it. Don't dream it - be it. Don't dream it - be it…" they sang on.

Slipping in amongst the dream-struck, rose-colored glasses wearing crowd, swaying and flowing about, Brackenreid wheeled in in his wheelchair. "Psst," he called to Julia and Pendrick. "Hmm," he worried, "We've got to get out of this trap, before this decadence saps our wills."

Julia felt the tug of reality pull at her. She looked over to Pendrick… he was long gone. The man was dressed like all the others now, in a corset and fishnet stockings and heels, looking surprisingly nice. They would have to work together to wake him up. She looked back to the Inspector, not even noticing she recognized him again. _How would she do it with him in a wheel chair,_ she wondered.

Brackenreid seemed to begin to tremor as he pushed himself to speak on, "Before this decadence saps our wills. I've got to be strong, and try to hang on, or my mind will snap. And I my life will be lived…" suddenly the rosy light illuminated over him, and he flung away the blanket covering his legs. _Oh, and what was revealed was scandalously, outrageously, shocking_ , for Inspector Brackenreid, too, had donned the high-heels and fishnet stockings, and he lifted his disturbingly sexy leg proudly in the air, pointing his toes, for his conclusion, and sang it out strong, "…for the thrills!"

Panic enveloped Julia! " _Oh no, not_ _ **him**_ _too!"_ she screamed in her head. The petrifying thought seemed echoed by a amusing observation – Thomas Brackenreid was a remarkably hairy man, and poking out through all the little holes of the fishnet stocking, voluptuously displayed to all, was a downy-soft, strawberry-blond, _**fuzz**_. Momentarily she froze, mostly with dread and hopelessness for their situation was much more dire than she had thought – but, she found she had to stifle a giggle as well.

 **Just then, out from the shadows, James Gillies appeared, spreading a horrid chill… holding a really big gun!**

Now, that seemed to be quite an antidote to this rose-colored intoxication! All the dreamy, wistful singing and swaying halted.

Fear hummed.

Only the wheezy, rhythmical flapping, from the enemy invaders jowls pierced the deafening silence.

" _Gills?_ " Julia's questioning mind asked, the fishy adaptation quickly stifled by her terror.

"Master George Crabtree," Gillies charged, the oversized gun aimed at his head, "It's all over. Your mission is a failure. Your lifestyle is too extreme. I'm your new commander. You are now my prisoner. We return to **my** world - Vicious-mania. Prepare the transit beam."

Julia charged forward, "You killed Darcy! You monster!"

"A minor twitch was all. You should thank me," the fiend requested, holding back a sneer.

 _Unbelievable_ , she steamed, "He was an innocent man!"

Flicking off a piece of dust, Gillies stated, "Who was getting in the way of you and the good detective's happiness. I helped you. Now there's nothing between you and the man of your dreams…"

Julia felt her own body shaking as the fury within rumbled. _This monster had killed Darcy in cold blood, framed her for the murder, trapped William in a cage – he had almost died trying to save her from the noose! Suddenly, she felt so dizzy, how did she know these things? She had just said good-bye to William, her heart still ached…_

Yet, Gillies taunted on, "Aren't you happy now? Or do you feel guilty?"

" _The piss ant!_ " her head screamed! "Why should I feel guilty? **You** killed him," she said, her teeth gritted with her seething.

Gillies gave the smuggest, most arrogant of chuckles. "Yes, but you caused that. He'd still be alive if he hadn't met you," he punished.

Julia hadn't noticed, and it hadn't been planned, but her talking with him had distracted the enemy invader, and he was now at quite a disadvantage. Murdochy dove forward, wrapping his big, hulky body around the laser beam gun just as the Inspector wheeled into the man's backside from behind, flinging Gillies into his lap. Immediately, every able-bodied person jumped on top of them. In sheer moments, Gillies had been captured.

Master George called out frantically, "Murdochy! You must reset the Time Warp machine to zero! We must go now! Others will be on their way!"

All eyes turned to the red blinking light at the top of the RKO radio tower - then to the hero.

William handed the gigantic laser beam gun to Meyers. "Where have you been?" he asked.

"I got tied up… issues of National Security," he answered. He looked at the top of the tower and asked, "You have to go up there to reset it?"

"Yes," William replied. Then the hero dashed off.

The crowd began to chant, "Murdochy! Murdochy!..." encouraging their hero.

"What are you wearing, Alan?" Meyers asked Clegg, unsure whether to be shocked or to laugh at the sight of his American competitor in his burlesque costume.

Clegg grabbed the gun out of Meyers' hands and aimed it pointedly at Gillies. "Don't be fooled, Terrence. There are many ways to be lethal," he slyly replied.

Gillies smiled and leaned closer to Julia, hampered by the threat of the laser beam gun. His evil eyes stared off at the dashing hero surging across the field to the gigantean RKO Tower. "Don't be too impressed, Julia. Your wonderful William won't be able to do it…"

She reached over and slapped him across the face. As her beautiful blue eyes honed and stung into his, she couldn't help but feel it, it terrified her – doubt.

She looked off at the tower. William was climbing up, his hands grasping each metallic rung, higher and higher. " _Strange_ ," she thought, " _He has on his red polka-dot pajamas – not the surprisingly seductive corset and fishnet stockings?_ "

William had gotten two thirds of the way up the tower. The rush of the whitewater rapids from the river below misted the rungs, making them slippery, although, the higher he got, the closer together the rungs became, and that made climbing easier. But now, he saw something that seemed to flap and blanket the top of the tower. He climbed closer to the thin, wagging and waving, veil-like covering. As he reached for the next rung… he saw it with jolt of panic. The shape of it – the meaning of it – sunk into his mind and swamped his heart with dread. It was a huge net. And within it, the terrifying creatures fluttered and flapped about unpredictably, their colorful wings carrying the logic-defying butterflies randomly this way and that, left, and then right, and then straight at him. The little antennae on the one closet to him quivered in the breeze. William froze with fear. _Somehow Gillies knew!_

"William! Stop!" from behind him far away and intimately close, he heard Julia call. He turned to see, shielded his eyes from the bright light. It was Julia – she looked magnificent! Standing down below, her blond curls cascading long and free, in one of his favorite dresses – the orange and brown one, the dress she had worn when they discovered they had each taken the same train, to investigate the case in the little town George had believed had been invaded by Martians. A ghostly luminosity swarmed around her. She rose her arm, as if to wave, but it froze there, summoning him, beckoning.

Gillies called out, "You fools, your hero is afraid of butterflies. He's useless now!"

The crowd began to chant, reminding Master George that they had known it from the beginning, "We told you he was the wrong man. He's the wrong man…"

Suddenly, the crowd's gasp vacuumed away all noises, and a hush fell…

For instantly, William stood before her. He walked closer. She cupped his cheek. Everything was so strange. He was mesmerized, stunned. He looked down, examined his pajamas, so odd to find himself dressed this way.

"They won't harm you," he heard her lovely voice say, close to his ear, almost a whisper. "They're just representative of a terrible memory…"

William returned his brown eyes to settle into hers. She continued, "They're harmless creatures, William. Just happened to be with your mother's body when you found her after she had died, in the river. You see? There's no need to be afraid."

He chuckled, at himself. "Of course, you are right," he agreed with a nod. "But now I fear something else…" he swallowed back the rush of it. "It hurts so… to say goodbye.'' William took hold of her shoulders, looked deeply into her eyes. With more sincerity and desperation than she had ever seen he said, "All I know is I will never love anyone like I love you, Julia."

"We never love the same way twice," she answered, "But you will love again. Love is like gravity, William, you have to let yourself fall."

He cleared his throat, and his eyes welled with tears, "I think I was always destined to have my heart broken by you Julia Ogden, always, in every time, in all times. And that one tiny thread, that I sang of earlier, holding the sword, keeping it from falling and collapsing my world, well that thin string…" William swallowed, the lump in his throat stealing his voice, "it just gave way… and now it's good-bye," he swallowed again, glanced ever so briefly at the top of the tower, _thanks to her, he could do it now._ His stunning brown eyes touched hers for the last time…

His heart, he couldn't believe it was possible, it broke even more with the sight of her tears. Unbearable, unbearable the agony.

She too needed to swallow back the pain to speak, "You must know William," she swore, "wherever you are, _when_ ever you are, know that somewhere, sometime, I'm loving you with everything I have, with every part of me, all of my heart and every spec of my soul, I'm loving you, William." She reached up, wiped away one of his beautiful tears. "Now… Go save their world," she forced herself to say. She leaned in and lightly, tenderly, kissed his lips. They lingered, each knowing that this was the last time they would touch, the last caress of their lover's scent, the last ember of their love to warm their skin.

The softest sound of their lips parting, then, exerting monumental strength, he pulled away. He turned. He left.

She wondered, as she watched him break into an athletic run, whether or not the note she had slipped into the pocket of his pajamas would travel with him… if he would ever read it…

The images she had shared with him in the note, of the haiku she had discovered in the Zen Room while contemplating their profound, mysterious love – she herself facing the noose at the time, appeared reassuringly in the back of her mind. Hope… there was hope. She felt it mingling there. There could be _connection_ , despite the seeming _impossibility_ of it. She saw the magic, pictured William at one end of the void, herself at the other, as she recited the lines of the haiku to soothe herself, to withstand the pain. " _Bamboo shadows sweep the stairs, but not a mote of dust is stirred._ " The uplifting image served for the light of day, but, she knew the wrenching grief would burn most severely at night. With a deep sigh, the tears re-welling, blurring William's going, she continued, " _Moonbeams penetrate deep to the bottom of the pool, yet not a trace is left in the water_."

She wept, realizing her tears were not for herself, but for him – completely alone, so very, very alone, without her. Perhaps the remaining string of hope was that she knew she had touched him… and somehow, he would always have that touch, always, everywhere.

Murdochy had reached the base of the RKO Tower. He climbed furiously.


	6. Ch6: Love's Starlight & the Time Warp

Murdochy Horror Picture Show_6_ Love's Starlight & the Time Warp

) (

Having raucous support from the crowd after speaking with Dr. Ogden, Murdochy had torn back to face the chink in his armor, his Achilles heel, the boundless number of butterflies trapped in a huge net which was encasing the top third of the RKO Radio Tower. It was this very tower that housed the final element needed to send Master George and his lust-loving minions back to their home – Libido-Magic Mania. If Murdochy could overcome his kryptonitic fear of butterflies and make it to the top, he would be able to reset the Time Warp Machine to zero. He had already programmed in the complicated numbers for the three parabolic leaps that would be necessary for their ultimate arrival, which was located quite far in the future.

Down below, on the back lawn of the master's castle, Master George, still stunning, if not a bit wilted, in his corset and fishnet stockings and high heels, ordered his servants to move everyone forward and re-establish the dancing and singing of the Time Warp for the impending departure.

Riff-Raff Higgins and magenta-haired Miss Bloom, each raising their voices to maximum volume, worked on opposite sides of the crowd to drive them forward towards the RKO Tower and the river's edge. The density and motion of the crowd swarmed, the concentration blasting the volume of their chants for their hero, "Mur-dochy! Mur-dochy! Mur-dochy!"

Holding the humungous laser beam gun pointed at the chest of the now-captured James Gillies, leader of the mortal enemies of Master George's followers, Alan Clegg worked to maintain his focus. Only moments ago he had succumbed to the primitive calls of his lust and become entranced by the rose-colored life of these perpetually-horny people. He shoved the gun closer to the gill-flapping monster and gave him a warning glare.

Gillies sighed and searched the crowd for Julia. He spotted her over to his left with Meyers and Pendrick and the Inspector at her side. " _Tears?_ " he congratulated himself with an unseen smirk.

Upon reaching the rung of the tower just under the enormous butterfly net, William ripped through the webbed material without pause. Within a breath, butterflies fluttered out by the thousands. " _Next rung!"_ he coached himself onward. A loud cheer erupted from below as the crowd saw Murdochy rocketing upwards through the fluttering cloud of butterflies towards the top of the ominous RKO Tower.

Disbelief dropped Gillies' jaw, his eyes bugging-out of his head, his gills petrified, momentarily, into ceasing their irritating flapping. Failure to stop his nemesis only briefly rattling him, he glanced at Clegg. _There was a chance!_

The lure of the crowd had entrapped Clegg. The gun now down, his eyes glassy, the American spy had yielded to the seduction of it all. First, just a step towards the proverbial fire… then another, he was drawn as a moth to the flame.

Over to his left, unable to remain still with her celebratory pride and glee for William's accomplishment as he climbed through the butterflies, Julia hopped up and down, grabbing a hold of Meyers' arm with joy. She looked over to see Gillies' reaction, his devious plan foiled. _An empty pocket in the crowd! No Gillies to be seen! No Clegg!_

Her eyes rapidly darted about. With a gasp, they halted, zoomed in. _"There he was! Gilles had escaped! Over there by the buffet table. What's he…"_

"Gillies has a knife!" Julia screamed out, pointing.

"He's escaped!" Pendrick panicked. His eyes bolting off to her focal point instantly, being joined by those of Meyers and the Inspector.

Gillies was moving fast – headed for the tower.

Bodies of all four of the earthling humans tilted forward in preparation to chase after him. It was Pendrick who called out the warning, stopping the would-be saviors, ultimately leaving only Murdochy, and Gillies, and fate, to decide the outcome. "No! No! We can't!" Pendrick called out, "Any closer and we would be taken with them. We'd be caught by the force of the Time Warp Machine."

Helpless, they peered through the crowd, catching a glimpse here and there of Gillies as he zigzagged through the crowd racing to stop Murdochy from rebooting the Time Warp Machine.

Up near the edge of the roaring river, at the foot of the impending tower, Master George led his minions in dancing the Time Warp. The waves and singing of the crowd sweeping them all away prematurely with bliss. Loudly, surrounded by the thrusts and the melody…

 _Let's do the Time Warp again!_

 _Let's do the Time Warp again!_

 _It's just a step to the left,_

 _And then a jump to the ri – i – i – i – ight._

 _You put your hands on your hips,_

 _And pull your knees in ti-ight._

 _But it's the pelvic thrust,_

 _That really drives you insay – ya – ya – ya – yane._

 _Let's do the Time Warp again!_

…Gillies snaked through the undulating insanity. Up above… Murdochy was almost there.

Suddenly, "Gillies reached the tower!" the Inspector screamed out, as they all stood by and watched, utterly powerless, as the fiendish enemy began his climb.

Master George, up in the front of the show, spotted the threat – the threat to his dream, the impending danger to his magnificent creature. With amazing spark, he took up pursuit. The dazed crowd continued their hazy chanting.

Let's do the Time Warp again.

Let's do the Time Warp again…

"Is that…" Pendrick alerted.

"Master George!" Julia yelled, a surge of hope that the Master may be able to help stop Gillies thrilling her voice.

Now within feet of the top, Murdochy heard his master's frantic call from down below him.

"Murdochy! Murdochy, watch out!" Master George warned.

Leaning over, the sight that met his eyes thunderbolted rage through Murdochy's body. His master had bravely grabbed a hold of the ankle of the horrible James Gillies, impeding the enemy's climbing up the tower. Gillies then bent down and slashed Master George's forearm with a knife, then kicked him in the face, knocking the corset-wearing man backwards, plummeting him down through the nighttime sky.

Now, his master's listless body lay dangling, bent over a lower rung of the tower.

Gillies resumed his climbing. The eyes of Gillies and Murdochy met with a storm.

Enraged, incredibly Hulk-like changes burst forth in Murdochy, rendering him now as much gorilla as human! He had taken on the features of _King Kong_ upon seeing his _Fay Wray_ attacked. He beat and thumped his massive chest, let go a colossal roar. Murdochy swung and flew, with warp speed, down the tower.

The crowd gasped and screamed and cheered as their hero plunged down to James Gillies, punching him with a powerful blow, sending the enemy invader's body rocketing downward through space. Only the fact that the lower rungs of the tower protruded out wider than the rungs above them would provide any chance of the man surviving, as he feverishly reached for each passing rung to stop his fall. Almost halfway down the tower, Gillies caught a hold, then swayed precariously below the rung he had managed to clutch.

Another chest-beating and roaring display upon arriving at Master George's body, Murdochy tenderly lifted his damsel into his arms. A cheer rung out from the crowd when they saw Master George talking to the beast! Then, gently, Murdochy draped his creator over his shoulder and hurried back up the tower. Still, near the top section, there quivered a fuzzy cloud of butterflies to travel through…

Another gasp from the crowd – James Gillies was scurrying back up the tower with surprising speed. The carrying his master was slowing Murdochy's progress, and the crowd below watched anxiously for the timing looked tight, it not being at all clear whether Murdochy would make it back up to the top to reset the Time Warp Machine before Gillies got to him.

Columbia-professor Dr. Grace called out for the crowd to resume doing the Time Warp, for it was going to be close.

Quickly once again near the top, Gillies stretched with a grunt and yanked Murdochy's ankle, causing him to slip.

Many in the crowd reacted with a scream, others willed Murdochy forward, keeping up their Time Warp mantra.

Gillies climbed up to the same rung as Murdochy and began to pummel him as Murdochy recovered from his slip and ignored his blows, continuing upward. Only an arm's reach from the top, and from resetting the machine, Gillies grabbed a hold of _**Master George's**_ _arm_.

With wild punches flying from the master's creature, Gillies quickly let go of his hostage. Then, crazed with fury, Murdochy attacked Gillies with one arm, a leg wrapped around the tower's frame and Master George secured with the other arm.

Quickly, Gillies cried out, "All right! All right! You got me. Stop hitting me," his pleas somehow registering with the beast, ceasing the attack.

His chest heaving out of breath, William searched the face of his nemesis.

"You won…" Gillies gasped, "For the last time."

William moved back, desperate to read the man's eyes.

"This is it for us. Doesn't that make you just a little bit sad?" Gillies asked.

The absurd question confounded William. "No," he said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Sensing he was gaining the upper hand, Gillies' expression took on a slight smirk, "Not even a teensy bit? Come now, Detective. You and I share something," he said. "Something special…" _Oh how he reveled in Murdoch's puzzled look – and he knew exactly what to do._

Gillies continued, "I'll miss you. You know that…" Shockingly, he then planted a lover's _KISS_ on Murdochy's lips!

Gillies' subsequent shove, following his bewildering kiss, powered by his victim's being thrown off-guard, freed Gillies from William's control. Gillies chose, not to take up their fight again, but instead to escape while he had a chance. He turned to face outward from the tower, dropped his eyes down to the river below, and urged his courage for the jump.

"Stop!" William yelled out, pausing Gillies' leap.

Somehow, despite being archenemies, Gillies' look pleaded with William. Jumping from here would surely mean death. William shook his head and coaxed, "The river rapids are too strong. You'll drown."

"Very possibly," Gillies agreed, "Although I have gills. And I've got nothing to lose." And with that, he stepped off, and his body dropped away in silence.

Without hesitation, William's eyes immediately lifted up the tower – to the top. _Only a rung away!_

A roar rose up from the crowd, and the Time Warp rumbled loudly in the air, as Murdochy returned to the task at hand.

His fist around the final rung, his master heavy on his shoulder, _UP… Reach over… Turn the dial… Zero… Touch…_

But…

Nothing happened.

The Time Warp sung on…

 _Still here, at the top of the tower_ … Murdochy checked below, _everyone was still there_ …

Safely back a distance from the crowd, Julia exclaimed, "What's wrong, it should have happened when he reset it!?"

Pendrick's brain barreled through the possibilities, realization jolting through him. _He needed to re-send the signal with William's calculations – now that the Time Warp Machine had been reset._ _That was it!_

Pendrick ran forward, hunting for the control panel. "I need to send the numbers again!" he explained as he disappeared into the crowd.

It seemed only a moment.

Julia glued her eyes to William up at the top of the tower and the wild hum of the intensity of it all reverberated on and on.

And then he was gone. In complete silence. Just gone. No flash of light. No crash of thunder, or zipping sound, or click. Nothing. Just no longer there. The emptiness of the space where he had been filled up with grief.

She searched the grounds with her bewildered eyes…

Master George was gone.

The minions were gone.

Columbia-professor Dr. Grace was gone.

Riff-Raff Higgins and magenta-haired Miss Bloom were gone.

Alan Clegg, having been so enthralled by the promiscuous hedonism of the flesh, having fit in so perfectly with the pleasure-seeking craziness of this bunch, in his corset and fishnet stockings and high heels, nowhere to be found.

The Inspector in his wheelchair, dressed in his burlesque costume, stood stunned, still beside her.

Blaring quiet rang in her ears.

Pendrick, also dressed like a raunchy showgirl, gone.

Meyers walked the area, the only one of them dressed normally in his suit and tails, somehow managing to light a cigar, smoke curling in his meandering wake – He too, dumbfounded, trying to match what he was seeing to what should be there.

Tears welled in her eyes. Dizziness. _Unreal._

 _William was gone_ … She choked back a sob.

Mutely, a butterfly fluttered past.

Regrets flooded through her.

" _IF ONLY Darcy and I hadn't made this journey - if only the carriage hadn't broken down… My God! Darcy's dead. And I betrayed him before he died! I've made love with William –_ _ **three times**_ _– and he's gone forever. Alone, he'll be all alone… trying to cope with those insane people, millions of years in the future…"_

But really, who was she fooling? Her regrets stemmed from much, much further back… to decisions that had changed her life, and William's, and Darcy's, profoundly. To leave William so he could be happy… To agree to marry Darcy… **The Earth shook when she thought it** … _"To have an abortion… To have sex with someone I did not love, for pleasure. Maybe it was fitting that such hedonistic…"_

Narrator George's voice piped in from the sky above. "If and only - two small words that kept repeating themselves again and again in Julia's thoughts, but it was too late to go back now - it was as if she were riding a giant tidal wave, it would be folly to fight against it - her only chance would be to ride it out - _adapt_ \- and perhaps also - survive."

She trusted William's ability to adjust, he would be all right. Julia sighed. She needed to be in the here and now, to get the most out of life, right here, and right now… "W _henever now is?"_ she wondered, uncertain and confused. Her thoughts drifted to _**this**_ William. " _Whenever it is… He should be here, shouldn't he?"_ she asked herself.

Remembering the Inspector next to her, she turned to ask… But found, she stood alone.

"Where'd they go?" she heard her own misty voice ask into the surrounding vacuum.

Meyers surprised her with his sudden proximity. "The future I guess," he said.

Julia tried to pull her eyes away from the top of the tower – to look her seemingly sole companion in the eye, but she failed. Once again she fought her body's desire to crumble, swallowed down the salty, hot tears. A deep breath, to change the subject, to begin again.

"And… our kind… the Inspector, Pendrick, Clegg?" her voice still far-off.

The spy took his time with his answer, drawing in the warm security of his cigar. "Clegg, Pendrick, perhaps with the others…"

"The Inspector was here," Julia remembered with a tilt of her head towards the man's shoulder as he stood next to her.

Meyers frowned. "Doctor," he started, the title managing to tug at her, aiding her grasp on reality, "A man such as Inspector Brackenreid would not want be seen dressed like… _that_ , I'm sure. The Constabulary is arriving."

Her brain teased, from somewhere inaccessible, dark, safe, unknown to her awareness just now, _"William!"_

Meyers cleared his throat, the grumbly sound, its significance in demanding her focus, finally freed her from her entrancement with the top of the empty tower. "Dr. Ogden, I do expect you to be discreet, for matters of National Security…" he warned.

An interruption from behind them, her finding it both startling and soothing at the same time, William's voice asked, "Julia?"

They both turned to see Detective Murdoch, his homburg-donned head still tilted to the side from his inquiry, likely having perused Julia's backside in her odd costume.

She felt the smile curl her lips, "William," she replied, returning the questioning tone.

"Ah, detective," Meyers stepped forward with a nod. "I was wondering when you would show up." The two men shook hands. He took a puff on his cigar.

Chills, delightful, delicious tremors, rocked and rippled through her body when William turned to her, so astoundingly charming, he tipped his hat. _My God!_ _That tiny smile_. Her heart pounded so in her chest. She watched him – he dropped his eyes, they darkened soaking in the sight of her dressed so. Almost imperceptible, his glance was quick. He took a deep breath once his eyes rejoined hers. From then on, he was in control, not once more would his eyes stray downward, their magnificent, warm, brown, magic solidly held to hers.

Meyers cleared his throat, drawing their attention. "Well, now that I know things are in good hands, I'll take my leave," he said. The focus of his look landed on Julia with a subtle secret nod reminding her of his subsequent request. "Just a quick word detective," Meyers decided to add, opening his arm to guide William off to the side. The two men stepped away and talked briefly.

Out of the periphery of her view, Julia watched him while he spoke with Meyers, finalizing their goodbyes. _**This**_ _William stood up so straight, stiff really. It almost seemed his neck did not rotate_ , she noticed. _Buttoned-down, constrained._ _Definitely not_ _ **un**_ _inhibited… I quite like this_ _ **less**_ _muscular version…_ she thought, a familiar knot twisting down lower. Besides her lust there was something else, she noted, she felt its resurgence, without a doubt she felt it emerging from the center of her heart, Julia marveled in in it, breathed in it, the surging oxygen seeming to light the fire stronger, she gloried in it, her love for this man.

He turned back to her as Meyers left. Alert to his weakness, she held his eyes… _Would they drop to her scantily-clothed figure? No – the man is solid as a rock in his resolve, remarkable in his self-control_.

William's eyes held directly to hers as he walked towards her, reaching up and unbuttoning his overcoat. "You must be freezing," he said, for it was the end of December here in Toronto and she wore only a corset and a pair of fishnet stockings, not even her high heels to protect her feet from the frozen ground under them.

She hadn't noticed the cold, perhaps because of being stunned with the losing of William… who stood, now, right in front of her. Odd, the way her memories were drifting away, leaving her confused… dazed.

He stood close in front of her, opened the sleeve to the coat so she could slide her arm in. So very, very close he stood to her as he reached around her body and guided the coat forward over her shoulders. She felt his eyes on hers while she dropped hers away, briefly closing her eyelid to bathe in the most wonderful scent in all the world – _HIS smell_ – as the Chinese spiced aroma floated off of his coat, onto her skin, into her nostrils, erupting and calming her at the same time. She praised being alive as it seeped in deeper, settling firmly in her core. Every cell in her body knew it in that moment, that this man before her was her tailor-made match.

"William," a yearning whisper escaped her lips when she opened her big blue eyes.

And the earth shook under his feet as the world flipped over, soaring his stomach up into his throat with the plummet, so that he leaned slightly, tilted with the shifting world slightly, into her soft body, as her arms slid around his neck. They embraced, the fit perfect, clicking snugly into place. Julia's fingers scratched against his scalp, surging the call, then her breath, warm on the flesh of his neck. Her nose nudged tenderly at his soft, maroon scarf, clearing a path for her kisses. These kisses grew in intensity, sucking, then a little, sharp, nip…

Feeling the effect in his trousers, he knew he needed to seize control. He breathed in, pushed back. "Julia, we're in public," he explained his motives, offered his apology. "Your reputation…"

Her body melded tighter against his chest as she stepped forward deeper into him, not letting go. She tilted her head, her breath on his ear. "I don't care about my reputation, William," she stated.

Self-protection drove him back a step, his hands grasping and securing her hips, stopping her forward push. He looked down, from this perspective the view instantly jolting his groin, seeing her two luscious, creamy breasts, feeling as if he were dropping into the plump, cavernous lure of her cleavage. _He had had a point to make – a reason to look at her racy curves,_ his brain searched as he tried to rein in his lust. " _Oh yes, her reputation,_ " he remembered. " _Certainly not a concern of hers… in this getup_ ," he scorned.

William lifted his gaze to look her in the eye, then raised a questioning eyebrow at her. _My God how his heart charged with her giggle._ "You're married," he reminded, the possessor of the high ground, unaware that it was strange that his knowledge of time, his experience of time, had switched forward from where it had been, the odd time warp still affecting the area.

She wondered about the truth of what he had said. _There was the trip from Buffalo… in the carriage. It broke. It was pouring rain… Was she married?_

"Oh?" she asked, then gave a self-conscious giggle. "I thought I was just engaged – not yet married… At least when Darcy and I arrived here at the castle last night," she pondered aloud. Her mind puzzled after the retreating memories. They seemed out of reach.

Exasperated, she sighed, then braved a glance at him. Her breath shot away – _My God, he was beautiful_. She should never have left him, never, she was certain of that now.

"William," she said, her tone strong, decided. Their eyes locked, the importance of the moment felt deeply. "The biggest mistake of my life was leaving you," Julia revealed. She rushed to add, "I'm so sorry I did that. I'm so stubborn sometimes," she paused.

 _Dream-come-true violin music began to play in his background_. And he trumpeted it to himself, how much he truly loved her stubbornness.

"That is true," he acknowledged. He was holding his breath, for he sensed it, hope dangling from a string.

She went on to the internal percussion of his heart beating wildly, "I broke your heart, I know that…"

William wrinkled a corner of his mouth, admitting to the pain, the expression so familiar it soared her heart up to the clouds. _Too strongly she had reacted_ , she dropped her chin and looked at the ground.

The couple waited. Irresistible, one of her blond curls bobbed in the cold breeze, and without thinking, William reached up and pinched it between his fingers and his thumb.

Her eyes still down, Julia shared the truth of it with him, as she herself realized it in that very moment. She said, "William, I never doubted that you were the one for me – never." Her eyes lifted, called to his. "What I was unsure of… was whether _**I**_ was the one for _**you**_ ," she asserted the crux of it. Julia could not hold back, needed to touch him. She reached up and cupped his cheek. "I know, now, William… that you loved me despite my not being able to give you a child – it was me who you would love. _**I was the one**_. I know I shouldn't say it, but I know it's true."

He nodded, then wrapped a hand behind her back, pulled her slowly, cautiously… closer.

Suddenly, there was that sweet squeak she makes when she was upset, and she hurried to get it all out, "I cost us so much, so much pain… And Darcy… I cost Darcy his life, William!" she insisted, her eyes plunging their alarm and self-anger into him, "…with that decision," she finished.

William's logical brain screamed at him, pulling him back from the heaven of it, from the falling into blissful oblivion with her revelation of her love, of their love _. It made no sense! Darcy was not dead. And why would she think she wasn't married to him? The two of them were going to go to the Lamont's to celebrate the New Year, the New Century._ A perplexed look overtook his face, assuming it was her who was jumping about from time to time and facts to facts.

"Are you alright, Julia?" he asked. He studied her more closely. "Perhaps you hit your head… Or maybe you had too much to drink?" he suggested as explanations.

Now it was Julia who looked confused. "Why would you ask that?" she sought.

 _ **Out of the blue, orchestra music piped in the breeze. And Julia gasped, both surprised and taken by, the dazzling newfound sight of William, handsome, handsome William, now wearing a tuxedo… And she herself felt so glamorous and sexy in this stunning red-velvet dress. She had been so bold, her heart racing with the fear of it, to go to the Policeman's Ball...**_

He shrugged, answering her question, "Perhaps too much champagne. It is New Year – a New Century." William's heart won out over his head, and he yielded, giving up the hunt for an explanation. He would profess his love for her, tell her she was the one for him, and they would be together, as he knew, as she knew, they should be, should have always been, forever.

"Julia," he said, demanding her attention, gravity grabbing her core.

"Yes," she replied. His pull had her. She felt the tug, was already dizzy from the speed of it, from the terrifying height.

He gave her the slightest nod and said, "I have seen the future…"

"William," such a spin…

"It was you," he promised, and the yank, and the whirlwind swept them into a kiss.

A change of tilt and another kiss… Change again and another… and another… Just one more… one more still…

He chuckled in her ear. William Murdoch of all people, so publicly here in the middle of the Policeman's Ball, so firmly, professing his love. He felt her voice in his ear, a perfect sound.

Breathless, love-struck, she said, "I've seen the future too, William," with a pause, for she was so out of breath at this altitude. Julia swallowed first, leaned back giving more room. She needed to see his face. "We have a son… in the future…"

Excitement urged William to hurry, to share their common discoveries, "Born in 1904," he nodded with his joy, then swallowed, "so he'll be eight years old in 1912." William's mind showed him, once more, the sign as he stepped off the Time Machine – 1912.

The unfounded possibilities of such things only added to the magic, although it harbored a threat of the dropping of the other shoe.

Suddenly champagne corks popped in abundance, bursting as fireworks from the sky. Neither of them expected to see that… as they abruptly considered their surroundings – for it seemed it had been eons since there was anything but each other in the world… they saw that they stood together outside of a castle – not at the Policeman's Ball. And it was at sunrise, on a bitter cold New Year's Day, the first day in a new century, in 1900. With this awareness of reality, the world's delightful swirling slowed.

Julia wobbled with the convoluted bends and warps of time, finding she was unclear about when it was, seeming to remember facts from the past and from the future, and having trouble telling them apart. Further, she suddenly felt knocked asunder by a desperate feeling stirred by the sight of the barren castle grounds. Sadness enveloped her before it made any sense – deep and strong. She was grief-stricken.

Instinctively, William stepped close and put an arm behind her.

Feather-light, and ephemeral, the memory that explained the feeling as it whooshed by. _There was another man she loved, and had lost… she remembered_ _ **the other**_ _William_.

She asked him, such a strange connection, to bring him in, "Is there a constellation, William," Julia's eyes drew his to the sky, "called Centaurus?"

If William had had time to consider the outrageous twists and turns of this conversation he would have been astounded, yet, once again, he just reacted, in the moment, here and now with her. He glanced over at her, then back to the heavens. "Yes," he replied. His gaze moved to the east, the rising Sun low and bright on the horizon. They both shielded their eyes. "It rises nearly with the Sun in the winter… about there…" he pointed.

"It has the stars closest to us… in the constellation?" she asked.

"Yes," his expression betrayed his surprise with her knowledge, though she did not see it. "Alpha Centauri," he agreed.

She recognized the star's name. _**He**_ _had based his calculations around that constellation, that star… Found it on the star map._ Illogical of course, that she looked to the celestial sphere to imagine where the other William was now, when she knew he was _ON_ Earth, just millions of years forward in the future from now. But, that place in the sky, Centaurus and Alpha Centauri, had a relative value, compared to all the other stars, absent their own Sun.

 _So lovely_ , she saw his face in her mind, his first smile when they shared their discoveries on that star map. Then she felt a blush, for her next memory stemmed from after they had made love, and he had asked her about her smile. Her own voice, profoundly happy, spoke the memory in her head, "That's a smile, William," she had told him. _My God, she loved him so much._

Uncontrolled, unasked for, not sought after, love surged in her heart. This feeling defied possibility while it defined the meaning of life. Warm, delicious, it expanded. Julia radiated with love for him. It felt so powerful, as if it were touching the infinite. Her imagination saw it, the light of her love covering vast distances, piercing through emptiness, through density, to reach him, to touch him, like the light from a star, having left eons ago, that twinkled there, where he was, sparkling in his eye. She touched him with her love.

It was _this_ William who broke the moment. Professorial, he lectured, yet his voice was awe-struck, and he did so barely above a whisper. "The light we are seeing from the Sun took eight minutes to get here. Some of the light we see from the stars left those same stars billions of years ago, having traveled from far, far away to get here. Amazing isn't it…"

She felt him lean in close.

"…to think starlight began its journey such a long, long, time ago," he said.

"And still, it touches us," she reassured herself, certain that her love would travel forward into the future, to be felt by the other William in his new world.

"Mm," _this_ William agreed, "It does."

A shift, unfelt by them, and with a change of perspective, they could be seen together from above. The couple grew smaller and smaller as the distance increased. Then there was Narrator George's voice in the outer atmosphere, finishing the tale. Rhythmical, poetic, his voice said,

"And crawling on the planet's face, some insects called the human race. Lost in time and lost in space…"

And phantom voices added with irony and a laugh, William and Julia no longer discernable below,

"And meaning."

) (

Warm and cozy on the cold New Year's Eve, in his tiny flat, Author George twitched in his sleep, huddled and collapsed in a heap, bent over the writings at his desk. Bothered with the sight in his dreams, of ruby-red lips, moving and sliding over pearly-white teeth. So odd, so seductive, so… wrong, as they mouthed and sang, and said, "Science Fiction – Double Feature. The Master has built and kept his creature. Time has reunited William and Julia. The servants play in a distant halleluiah. OH! At the Late Night, Double Feature Picture Show. I want to go… Oh! Oh! To the Late Night Double Feature Picture Show.

The celebratory mood of the disturbing mouth's song mixed and melded with his real world environment, and he incorporated real events that were occurring around his sleeping body into the dream. Thus, champagne corks abound as they began to pop all around, and people cheered and blew noisemakers and fireworks boomed and crashed… in his dream, around the teeth and the lips.

In the next moment, he was awake. He sat up, his eyes down on his typewriter. " _Oh, that hurts,_ " he thought, lifting his hand to his neck feeling the crick stinging there. The racket outside, and downstairs, showed no signs of letting up. It was 1910 after all… Almost as big of a deal as it had been in back in 1900.

He remembered part of the dream. The detective and Dr. Ogden at the Policeman's Ball. A smile always grew in him with that memory. Emily had come for him too.

" _She had been sad… the good doctor, in the dream,"_ the feelings re-kindled in his chest. He took the time, pushed himself to remember why she had been so, and the lot of the dream flooded back into his memory. Even to him the images, the ideas, in that dream were off kilter. " _Can you imagine_ ," he teased himself, " _the Inspector in a wheelchair – and a corset and fishnet stockings and heels! With all that fuzzy hair sticking out everywhere!"_ George blushed. " _He'd bloody well string me up alive,"_ George warned himself. " _Though the aliens, really being a future subspecies of humans, that's plausible_ ," he considered wrinkling up his face, then remembered the Time Warp and the wild promiscuous sex. " _Still, I think not,"_ the author decided.

) (

After arriving back home after the Policeman's Ball, William had checked in on their three sleeping children. A bit tipsy, Julia had headed into their bedroom to change out of her elegant evening gown for bed. It had been a wonderful evening, complete with dancing, and flirting, and admiring each other, each dressed to the nines, from afar. She felt deliciously in love, so very happy.

"They are all sleeping peacefully in the new decade," William said.

Julia watched from their bed as William undressed. Married to this man for eight years now, she marveled at how handsome he still was. Arousal stirred, and charged, and grew as she watched more and more of his well-sculptured body be revealed from under his tuxedo. "Good," she replied.

She ducked her chin, wanting to scold him for his modesty when he turned away to remove his underwear and step into his pajama bottoms, but he did not see her baiting of him. Her womb wrenched wildly anyway, with the sight of his backend. An image flashed in her mind, of him on top of her, flexing and thrusting with those powerful, hunky, bicycling muscles. She nearly moaned aloud with the want.

He turned out the overhead light, leaving the bedroom illuminated solely by the romantic glow from a dim lamp on his night-table. He crawled under the covers to join her in their marital bed. Having fought his urges to touch her all night long, William now battled with himself to stay in control. He turned to watch her, as he lay waiting lying on his back. His eyes widened and darkened upon noticing her bare skin, so creamy and perfect, the curve of her shoulder, the nape of her neck, the bulge of her breasts still hidden, secluded under the sheet, as she glided over to him.

Julia's fingers traveled up the cozy fabric of his pajamas, detecting underneath it his firm stomach, then the taught contours of his chest. Her head took to spinning with the desperate need of oxygen, her breathing became hurried and strong, with her discoveries of his muscular physique. She pinched the top button of his pajama top, releasing it. "I don't know why you bother to put these on, detective," she teased her voice raspy and seductive.

William's groin responded, his pajama bottoms feeling tighter and tighter rapidly. "It's only proper," he replied. He heard it in his own voice though – she would too. He was aroused. He cleared his throat, then added, "Besides, the children will come in… in the morni…

Her mouth stopped his words, covered them with her mouth, slayed him with her hot, hungry breath surging out of her nostrils and cascading down his face. Her body pushed in – so plush and soft, and malleable against his. Her tongue pushed in.

William gave up. He was hers.

Julia bent her leg, slid her knee up over his groin. "Mmm," she moaned, then released his mouth, tortured his neck, "It seems you want me, detective," she said.

Part of him wanted to chuckle, for so quickly he had given up trying to speak, to find words to answer her. William's hands had not been still, but now they worked to remove the barrier between them. He pulled the string to pop free from his pajama bottoms. Julia helped him slide them lower. He rolled her over, kicked them off under the covers. He moaned, so rare for him, feeling her skin sliding along under his as he moved over her. "Julia," his whisper called as he grew heavy on top of her.

William cherished each ripple of her ribs as he slid his hand up her side, reached around the curve of her breast. He took her firmly in hand, kneaded her scrumptious flesh, her moan pressing him harder into her. _My God_ , her exquisite nipple poking boldly up into the air, nearly swirled him out of control. He had to taste it, to roll its firm pinkness in his mouth. Kisses butterflied down her neck, between those delectable, creamy orbs.

A pause, he had found **it** … felt the cold, rigid metal of **it** against his cheek. She had put on _**the locket**_! The locket she had worn the night she had said goodbye to him in the carriage when she was leaving him for Buffalo. The locket that had clicked, that had become stuck to his badge. The locket that symbolized for them the universe's attempt to tell them… that they were meant to be together.

"I've not seen this for a while," he said, wondering. He took it in his fingers, fondled it. Kissing her cheek, her ear, he waited for her to elaborate.

Julia wrapped a long leg around him, holding him close. "I'm not sure William," she started to explain, lifting her chin, offering more of her neck for his lovely tormenting. "Something about a feeling I have tonight, about the power of our love to thrive through so much…"

His teeth nipped her flesh, wrenching her womb unbearably tight. The pleasure electrified her back into an arch. She felt his smile against her skin. " _Devilish beast – he loves to do that to me,_ " she thought.

Searching her brain, so spinny and dizzy with lust, she re-sought her train of thought. " _Oh yes_ ," she remembered, " _the locket._ " She turned her face to him, slipped her fingernails into his magnificent black hair. She went on with her explanation, "Our love through it all William… our profound love while we enjoyed the ups and even stronger while we endured the downs, and through times together… and times apart, and…"

Julia pushed against his shoulder, followed through until he rolled onto his back. She exhaled ravagely as she slid over him, skin sliding along skin. He looked down, watched her pendulous breasts jiggle with her movements – she slipped a leg over him, straddled him.

He had to touch, both hands, full of her mouthwatering breasts. He watched the flesh give way to his fingers, bend and fill in the gaps between them. " _Magnificent,_ " his brain breathed at him.

Julia lifted her body up higher, guided him into the right spot.

 _Oh my God_ , his heart pounded, and pounded, out of his chest as she sat down lower, grew heavier, and he felt her warm, slippery body rupture around him. Deep, deep inside of her now, bathed in her sweetness, Julia went on describing why she had put on the locket.

"I just want to love you with all my might tonight, husband…" Julia said. She tilted and rocked on top of him, deeper still, then away, deeper again, and away… _My God_ , she was taking him wildly. She bent down closer, her breath in his ear as her breasts squashed against him… so heavenly she moved against him, again and again and again. "I want to love you… so hard… and so deeply… that you could feel it… on the other side of the universe… if that was where you were," she promised.

He spun them madly, planting her beneath him. Pound, pound, pound, he thrust into her, the power of it collapsing her completely. She loved this man so much. Had to have him closer. "Please William," she begged, "Please."

The edge surged closer. Right there, right there. They would touch the perfect spot together. No doubt… Right there… Only waiting…

William's moan devastated her every fiber. It was not possible to love him more.

 _ **Primal, his heed to hold her in place, his teeth took her earlobe, he pumped and pumped fiercely for each, last, delicious, drop. Then…**_

 _ **He felt the heat of her whisper in his ear, after he had let go of his bite, and their world began to slow, "I will love you always, everywhere, with everything I have, for all of time, William, for all of time, with everything I have… I will love you, forever. I promise."**_

 _ **William soaked in, and soared in, and floated in the heaven of it, as he slowly realized it was a dream. He grounded by touching his surroundings in his mind… Next to him slept his beautiful wife of many years, a woman who looked very much like Julia, now pregnant with their third child – they knew it would be his first son. He had been the only man in the world to marry, to take a wife, the only man in the world who was jealous, and possessive, and who guarded his mate from others – the only one who was monogamous, and asked his wife to be so too, in all the world. They had given him that, for he was their hero – he had saved their world, and they understood, thanks to Julia, that he was not like them. He had chosen his wife well, for she was happy to be his exclusively, and it had turned out she had fallen madly in love in with him.**_

 _ **William took in a deep breath, feeling soothed, content, as if he had taken in the toasty rosy-dawn sunlight with the air. He rolled over, sat up on the edge of their bed. His eyes found his red, polka-dot pajama bottoms lying in a heap on the wooden floor at his feet. As he slipped them on, a necessity he thought, though his modesty was rare here, for the children would soon come in, he remembered they had made love last night. Then he remembered the dream…**_

 _ **Oh, how he loved those dreams of being with Julia, so profound was their love.**_

 _ **The window in their tropical paradise was opened, and the lightest of breezes drifted in. Probably the wind that did it, he sought the poem on the wall. He didn't read it, for he knew it by heart. His fingers twitched with the memory of finding her note. He hesitated before looking down at the floor.**_

 _ **He knew he would see it there, the certainty of it warmed his heart. He looked on the sunlit patch on the golden, wooden floor, for the light and the shadow that landed there.**_ **Oh yes** _ **, the shadows swept softly, from the leaves rustling in the breeze outside. "I wonder if she's loving her William right now," he thought. A smile took his face, for he realized he had no doubt that she was…**_

 _ **The slightest warning, footsteps pattered, the doorknob turned, the door opened.**_

 _ **Only his oldest daughter this morning, she stepped brightly into the room. Her eyes grew wide and her expression joyous upon seeing he was awake. She darted towards him, to jump into his arms and have her hug.**_

" _ **Shh," he raised his finger to his lips as she came towards him. Already in his lap, he said, "Mommy's sleeping," in her ear. He loved the smell of his little girl, her blond silky hair receiving his good morning kiss.**_

 _ **Sensitive, this little one, she spoke with a whisper, "What ya looking at Daddy?" she asked.**_

" _ **I was reading the poem on the wall, and noticing the shadows on the floor," he explained. "You see, the first part says, '**_ **Bamboo shadows sweep the stairs, but not a mote of dust is stirred.** _ **"**_

 _ **Pride filled his chest when his little girl shifted her gaze to the fluttering shadows on the floor. He leaned down closer to her ear and said, "Well, there was not a sprinkle of dust motes until you barreled in, raising the dust." William gave her a loving squeeze.**_

 _ **He sighed. "I was thinking of a friend… who gave me the poem, back before we made the journey to get everybody back home," he said, tilting over to better see her face.**_

 _ **She twisted to turn sideways on his lap. Her big, blue eyes looked for his before she said, "The woman in the story… the one who helped you with the butterflies, Daddy?"**_

 _ **He felt the twinkle in his eye as he brushed a curl away from her face, "Yes, yes it was, Julia," he replied.**_


End file.
